The Time Museum

"We're going to bury them under my past."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: July 2012

Series: Companion Chronicles 7.01

Featuring: Ian 

Synopsis 

"This is the Chesterton Exhibition. A series of breathtakingly faithful tableaux, painstakingly detailed to the nth degree. Dedicated to the life of that most extraordinary time traveller, Ian Chesterton!"

Ian finds himself in a shrine to his own past, and on the run with a man named Pendolin. 

From Coal Hill a School to Jobis Station, from Totter's Yard to the Crusades, Ian's history is unfolding. 

And a confrontation with a deadly enemy with a voracious appetite awaits...

Verdict 

The Time Museum was an excellent Companion Chronicle audio adventure! I really did enjoy this one from start to finish. I was very pleased that this followed the way of The Jigsaw War and was a story that wasn't told through narration but rather in real time. I was also very surprised, judging from the cover, that Ian was the only familiar character to feature in the story. There was no First Doctor (only a little comedic recollection from Ian), no Susan or no Barbara. It was a unique dynamic, especially given the fact that Ian was now portrayed as being older as well. I really liked that aspect as it gave us a new perspective on Ian Chesterton and also allowed William Russell to be more like himself which I'm sure he relished. The whole story being based around Ian's memories of his travels in the TARDIS with the First Doctor and the mentions of nearly every story he featured in were wonderful! He got things horribly muddled up at times due to the fact his  memories were being fed on. But that allowed some humour which definitely put a smile on my face. We had wonderful mentions of The Aztecs on more than one occasion with Tegana, the Doctor's proposed marriage and Yetaxa all getting a lovely mention. The Keys of Marinus and The Reign of Terror getting more subtle mentions was still nice as those are two of my favourite First Doctor stories, particularly the former, that's one of my all time favourites. I really liked how James Goss, a writer who is slowly becoming a favourite of mine, didn't just stick to referencing TV stories. I loved the Farewell, Great Macedon inclusion I must say! A really nice reference. An Unearthly Child was probably the story that got mentioned the most and why wouldn't it? It's so unbelievably significant! There was nice talk of before and after Ian and Barbara wondered to Totter's Lane and stumbled aboard the TARDIS and their lives changed and would never be the same again. Ian fondly remembered Susan which was nice but it was sad to hear him not being able to remember Barbara at first. Ian's reaction when he remembered where he was in the reconstruction of the corridors from Skaro was superb. A lovely The Daleks reference right there! There were also fantastic recollections of The Romans and The Crusade with the Robomen ensuring a nice mention for The Dalek Invasion of Earth - my second favourite ever of the William Hartnell era. As well as an abundance of story references and taking a terrific trip through Ian's time travelling with the Doctor, this story did have a decent plot to it. Pendolin was an intriguing character and I did suspect there was more to him than simply hiding when the memory-eaters came. He was the one feeding on Ian's memory the whole time! He didn't seem too evil at first but that was soon quashed. The way he was defeated was very good and certainly added a momentary glimpse of action in the second part which wasn't quite as good as the first. That being said, we even got mention of the ancient war between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host which I was most certainly not expecting! Ian now knows of the Sontarans, I do love the timey-wimey nature of Doctor Who on times. It never ceases to amaze me and make me smile. Overall, an excellent story with a superb performance from William Russell. Past story references galore with a good plot - what more can I ask for?

Rating: 9/10