Iris Wildthyme and the Land of Wonder (audio story)

The Land of Wonder was the fourth release in the Iris Wildthyme audio series. It was the second story in the second season. It was written by Paul Magrs.

Publisher's summary
Exiled to Earth by her mysterious superiors, Iris has been amusing herself and Panda by working for MIAOW, the Ministry for Alien Incursions and Other Wonders. When a certain Professor Ramsbottom and his lovely assistant Audrey unearth a weird vehicle under a London railway station, Ms Wildthyme and her art critic chum are on the scene pretty sharpish.

Among anachronistic skulls and crockery they discover the still-living forms of utterly perplexing, alien creatures. And, before you can say 'Jabberwocky' Iris and her friends are on a mind-boggling voyage into a groovy Wonderland deep, deep beneath the Earth's crust...

Plot
Iris' bus has broken down in 1970s London. Meanwhile Professor Trevor Ramsbottom and his assistant Audrey discover skulls and a tea set underneath a London Underground station, which seem to be emanating evil. Iris and Panda get recruited by MIAOW to investigate although Ramsbottom insists that he does not need assistance. Ramsbottom is unaware of MIAOWs existence, although he eventually accepts the pair's help and they go to Ramsbottom's laboratory, where Panda flirts with Audrey.

Iris tells Panda that she plans on using logic bombs in order to set ludicrous events into motion by exposing the presence of implausibility. Although illegal, Iris has an affinity for the devices. The bombs dig up part of a green machine with the words "Jabborwocky" written on the side.

Special Forces come to help dig up the rest of the machine. In the process, one of the soldiers gets hit by a piece of debris and begins repeating some kind of nursery rhyme. They manage to open the ship and find the White Rabbit and the Mock Turtle from Alice in Wonderland. The characters are shocked to find themselves in 1973. The Mock Turtle weeps incessantly.

Iris and Panda take the events in stride, but the Professor and Audrey have trouble rationalizing the situation. Iris works tirelessly to fix the Jabberwocky so that she can enter Wonderland as she is strangely drawn to the place. She reveals to Panda that she stole the bus in an act of rebellion, and that the bus has broken down due to the Clockworks meddling with it. She views the Jabberwocky as a potential escape from 1973.

More to be added...

Cast

 * Iris Wildthyme - Katy Manning
 * Panda - David Benson
 * Trevor Ramsbottom - Steven Wickham
 * Audrey/Harriet Dodd - Lizzie Hopley
 * Mock Turtle/Salford Cat - Sean Connolly
 * White Rabbit - Scott Handcock

Continuity

 * A Mock Turtle also appears in PROSE: The Scarlet Empress.
 * Iris mentions her work for MIAOW in the 1960s. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)