Erasure

"Let's talk about your favourite Time Lord."

Writer: Gary Russell

Format: Audio

Released: April 2018

Series: Short Trips 8.04

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Adric, Narvin

Synopsis

The Celestial Intervention Agency, a shadow, unspoken part of the Time Lord hierarchy. Beloved and loathed in equal measure by various Presidents and High Councils the millennias over. But they serve a very important function: they keep the time lines safe and clear – they do the darker, dirtier jobs that most Time Lords would prefer not to know even need doing.

CIA Sub-Coordinator Narvin has always taken his oath to uphold the Worshipful Laws of Gallifrey very seriously. But when he is sent on a mission to investigate the planet Bellascon, even he hasn't reckoned with the force of nature that is the Fourth Doctor, who has – one might say – his own way of dealing with things, and his own views on people like Narvin. But somehow the two must overcome their instincts and work together to stop the web of time being erased forever...

Verdict

Erasure was a very good little Short Trips audio! On a rare commute to the office in these days of remote working, this filled my journey in a splendid way as we had a rare clash of ranges. I thought it was a really strong idea to give us an account of Narvin meeting the Doctor and whilst it would have been so much better if Tom Baker actually featured, it was still delightful to just have them meet. I think the choice of the fourth incarnation was brilliant as the Fourth Doctor is probably the strongest personality of any Doctor and with Narvin having a strong stance on things too, they were always going to clash. The Doctor didn't seem too pleased by Narvin's arrival on Bellascon and recognised him straight away as CIA. I thought it was fun to return to the early days of Narvin at a time where he hadn't yet become Coordinator after Vansell. The format of the adventure in essentially being a shorter and one-actor Companion Chronicle worked well and with him recalling his meeting with the Doctor to an unconscious Leela, I wonder if that will tie in to her fate at the end of The Devil You Know. Is this where Narvin found Leela after she was thrown from the War Master's TARDIS and into the Vortex? Or is it completely unconnected? Whatever the answer, it was a fun thing to ponder on. The setting of Bellascon was really good and I liked how they had developed rudimentary time travel there. It wasn't taking long for the Time Lords to try and assert their authority over the use of time travel and that didn't go down well on the planet. Narvin's reaction to realising that the Doctor was present was amusing and having him in a rare adventure alone with Adric was lovely. We don't get a lot of that so I was glad to have their time together expanded on here. Adric didn't have a huge amount to do, but he was inquisitive and crucial to the plot with him being taken out of time! History had been changed at the cruise liner with Adric and the connections to his ancestors was very intriguing. I wasn't expecting to explore something along those lines, although from the title I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised! The Doctor's reaction to what had happened to his companion was glorious and I thought Sean Carsen did a tremendous job as the Fourth Doctor there. I could sense the rage and that was also testament to the writing of the character as well. Narvin detecting the moment where Adric was removed from time was good use of his CIA background and what he was trained to detect in time, and I thought his comment about time really ought not to need healing was excellent. This was quite a serious predicament but I think the short format and only having one actor meant that threat wasn't sold as well as it could have been, but I still appreciated what was being done and it was just great for Narvin and the Doctor to meet. The truth of the conclusion and the extent to which Narvin, signed off by Romana in a lovely surprise cameo, was really well done and I liked how it was kept hidden from Leela because she wouldn't accept the atrocities committed. Overall, a great listen!

Rating: 8/10