Vanessa was the aunt of Tegan Jovanka, and was driving her to Heathrow Airport when the car had a flat tyre.
Biography
While Tegan went for help, Vanessa was killed by the Master with his Tissue Compression Eliminator. (DW: Logopolis). The presence of a photograph of her "Auntie" Vanessa in her cabin on Striker's yacht alerted Tegan to the fact that her hosts had been reading her mind and using that information to make her cabin more homey and comfortable, a clue to their true nature as Eternals (DW: Enlightenment). She once told Tegan to stop (being a hostess) when it stopped being fun. Tegan applied this notion, citing it when she departed the Doctor, following her encounter with the Daleks. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)