Echoes Through Eternity: In Search of Lost Time

"You never know the difference you might make."

Writer: Una McCormack

Format: Audio

Released: November 2024

Series: Short Trips: Gallifrey 1.03

Featuring: Ace

Synopsis

Old Time Agents never die – they just lose their memories. Back on Earth after her involvement in the Time War, Ace is having trouble fitting in – and coincidence seems to be following her...

Verdict

In Search of Lost Time was another great little story to continue my way through the Gallifreyan collection of Short Trips! This was a stark change in tone from the first two adventures within the release and that's massively down to being set on Earth. That makes sense when it comes to Ace and I love the proximity of the story being within the events of the Time War. This was at a time where Ace had lost her memories thanks to Braxiatel which was strong continuity and I enjoyed hearing her distain for his actions, especially considering he'd featured in The Questing Beast as the previous episode in the release. The concept behind the story was fun and it was good for Ace to be experiencing a number of coincidences. I liked her addressing the reader in the form of narration and I think it absolutely works best for the narration to be in character. When you only have one actor or actress performing a story that features the companion they played, it becomes difficult to hear any other voices. So for Ace to be the narrator worked brilliantly and I thought she was a lot of fun to be honest! One coincidence in London wasn't exactly a huge shock. I think it's more than feasible for someone to run into another from their old school. It was some good natured humour that came from Ace being addressed as Dorothy McShane as well. That's not a name she is awfully fond of but she couldn't get too annoyed by it considering this was a former school associate. That's what she would be referred to on the school register and such. I appreciated Ace's comments about small talk because I am absolutely in agreement with her thoughts. The actual idea of engaging with strangers on the likes of public transport such as the tube in London is not at all appealing to me, but to be fair I am not a fan of London itself in the slightest. When it came to the final coincidence I was stunned by what I was hearing to be honest. I am often found reading when on public transport whether that's going to work or on a voyage to an airport or holiday, so to hear how Ace had her book physically tugged at by someone trying to engage in conversation was honestly abhorrent. I wouldn't take that in the slightest! I thought the posh interaction was also pretty fun in having Ace be remembered as a legend in Perivale for blowing up the art room, although the nature of the man didn't seem like that would be something he was impressed by! I thought Sophie Aldred did a really strong job in presenting the characters Ace interacted with and she did a good job in jumping around them in terms of age. From young to middle class to the elderly, she really did a stellar job in nailing it all. I was so impressed with her. I don't think Ace is the most predictable of characters to have in a release like this, but the connection to the Time War was really good. The idiocy of the Time Lords sometimes is baffling as in a way to extract information from Ace, they went about using coded words of her history hence the coincidences with people knowing her but she not them. She was suspicious of that as you'd expect, but then her neighbour as the person she was telling the story to happened to be from Gallifrey all along! That was a fun twist but Ace knew all along. She knew and the memory inhibitor moment of all of her memories coming back was nicely done. It was a powerful moment as she retrieved her own knowledge and had the coordinates that Gallifrey required in the Time War. I wonder if she'll now have any further involvement in the Gallifrey series moving forward? It's nice to know it's possible. Overall, a great listen! 

Rating: 8/10