The Marian Conspiracy (audio story)

Publisher's summary
Tracking a nexus point in time, the Doctor meets Dr Evelyn Smythe, a history lecturer whose own history seems to be rapidly vanishing.

The Doctor must travel back to Tudor times to stabilise the nexus and save Evelyn's life. But there he meets the Queen of England and must use all his skills of diplomacy to avoid ending up on the headman's block...

Cast

 * The Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
 * Dr. Evelyn Smythe - Maggie Stables
 * Reverend Thomas Smith - Nicholas Pegg
 * The Queen - Anah Ruddin
 * Lady Sarah - Jo Castleton
 * Francois de Noailles - Barnaby Edwards
 * George Crow - Sean Jackson
 * John Wilson - Gary Russell
 * William Leaf - Jez Fielder
 * Royal Guard - Alistair Lock

Foods and beverages

 * The Doctor agrees to take Evelyn to Mexico or Havana so they can pick up some chocolate for some of Evelyn's cakes.
 * Evelyn gives Mary some aspirin, she takes it with beer.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor once again uses his well worn alias, Dr John Smith, to gain access to the Queen's inner circle.
 * The Doctor does some serious name dropping during this story, mentioning meetings with Socrates (whom he told to "stick to his guns" when it came to his theories), Sir Francis Drake, Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey (whom he met in the Tower of London), Sir Robert Cecil and Queen Elizabeth I.

Individuals

 * Evelyn was once married, but ended up leaving her spouse following a row about her attendance at an academic conference on the day of their anniversary though she doesn't seem to be too bothered about this, describing "love" as a distraction. Her specialty is Tudor political history. She can pick locks with a hairpin following years of dealing with students who had locked themselves out of their rooms and she has a pathological love of cocoa and cakes.

Continuity

 * When viewing 1550s London from the TARDIS scanner, Evelyn muses that it will all be burnt down in the Great Fire of London in 1666, a statement that causes an embarrassed intake of breath from the Doctor. His fifth incarnation played a major role in starting that fire in DW: The Visitation. Ironically, the Fourth Doctor, arriving shortly after his future self's departure, was wrongly accused of starting the fire only hours later. (DW: Pyramids of Mars, ST: The Republican's Story) A similar exchange occurred between the Doctor and Peri Brown in BFA: Point of Entry.
 * The Doctor says that he should "pop back and support Darwin." He and Evelyn would later meet Charles Darwin in BFA: Bloodtide.
 * The Fifth Doctor had previously been imprisoned in the Tower of London in the late 17th century. (BFA: Summer)

Timeline

 * The Marian Conspiracy occurs after BFA: Urgent Calls
 * The Marian Conspiracy occurs before BFA: The Sirens of Time