Lost and Found

"We seem to have only gone as far as my childhood."

Writer: Penelope Faith

Format: Audio

Released: June 2016

Series: Short Trips 6.06

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben

Synopsis

The post-war London of 1948 is rebuilding, the people are recovering, and Ben and Polly have arrived with an old friend with a new face. But they're not the only visitors. A very different kind of war is being fought, in a department store, and they are in the middle of it...

Verdict

Lost and Found was a lovely little Short Trips audio adventure! Following the recent sale from Big Finish in this range where pretty much every story was on offer prior to the current series, I snapped at the chance to stock up and couldn't help but start with this little gem of an audio. I'm a huge fan of Anneke Wills and I thought she did a tremendous job as narrator. She had quite a few different roles to play but I thought she pulled off a superb performance. She really is quite marvellous. Her stepping back into the role of Polly was delightful and it's no secret that I love her as a companion because we named our kitten after her! Wills also did a fantastic job with her impressions of both Ben and the Second Doctor which is a difficult task given her gender, but it really was a good nod to the past and the late actors she shared her time with on screen. I thought the dynamic of just having the three of them making it set before The Highlanders was good because it's not very often we get an adventure with this trio so that made it feel a little unique which is definitely a positive. I liked the description of the bomb site description upon their arrival to London in 1948 with it obviously being so soon after the devastation of World War Two. I loved getting to explore the childhood of Polly and Ben and the latter's mocking of the former being from Hampshire and not having to experience bomb bombardment was interesting. Polly's thoughts on Londoners and how they were brave was really good in placing the period. The Doctor being intrigued by a tin of beans was a little extreme even for someone with a curious nature like his, and Ben's joke that followed was painfully bad. Polly describing how she had lost a teddy bear in Henrik's department store was a sad little story but it was nice that they had arrived on the day it had gone missing! Her hopes of being reunited with that bear were really nice, even if Ben was in the mood to mock. I really wasn't expecting there to be talking inhabitants of the tin of beans and just how much the story focused on the rationed item was quite something! It was peculiar to say the least but that made it amusing. Their comment about getting in a pickle was a much better joke than Ben's. It was nice for Polly and Ben to be in familiar surroundings and reminisce about their childhood and I enjoyed getting to meet Polly as a six-year-old with her not freezing in time like the rest of people in the store. It was clear who this girl was greeting the Doctor. Polly and Ben going to the store's lost and found to find her bear was good and I was intrigued that upon finding it she was unable to touch it. The impact two Polly's in the same place from different points in their time-stream had in the store was really good ad I loved that the older version was helping her younger self, even taking her hand in hand despite the potential Blinovitch Limitation Effect that was nowhere to be seen. The Doctor fearing that in anticipation was great though. I liked the reference to Resistance with Polly reminding her younger self of their uncle's sacrifice and the comment about goodbyes being hard to ones you love was a powerful way to end a really nice and interesting audio adventure! I wasn't expecting talking tins of beans or to meet Polly as a child, but it was a very good little listen.

Rating: 8/10