Echoes Through Eternity: The Questing Beast

"The Vortex viewed as ancient magic."

Writers: Fio Tretheway & Georgia Cook

Format: Audio

Released: November 2024

Series: Short Trips: Gallifrey 1.02

Featuring: Braxiatel

Synopsis 

Battling the Lord Burner, Braxiatel is separated from his friends as they fall through a multitude of alternative Gallifreys. He arrives in a realm where science is magic and there is a Dragon to be slain...

Verdict

The Questing Beast was another great little episode to continue my way through the Echoes Through Eternity Gallifreyan edition of Short Trips! This idea of a release is gaining more and more approval with myself as I reach the halfway point now and it's just so fun to dip into different eras and characters from the incredible range that is Gallifrey. There's so much potential and I sincerely hope this isn't the only release. Having Braxiatel as the main character here was fascinating as he is certainly something of an enigma. He is often shrouded in mystery so it was good to catch up with him at a point where he was falling through numerous versions of Gallifrey in the hope of reaching the Axis and returning to the true version he knew best. I thought the series where we did visit a number of different Gallifreys was really strong and the concept at the heart of this alternation was fantastic! It felt very Gothic and that's perfect for a character like Braxiatel. Instead of Time Lord science having developed on Gallifrey, this was a world of magic. I thought that was tremendous and is certainly something I would love to explore in longer form. This world is certainly ripe for a revisit! The line that I took for my quote is something I absolutely adored and it's not actually all that far fetched. So many peoples and society throughout the vast array we have met in the Whoniverse would simply have stared in awe and wonder at something like the Time Vortex. It's not a big surprise that a Gallifrey in an alternate universe would see it as magic and something to gaze upon. I really enjoyed that and it was delightful to hear Braxiatel getting a little frustrated at the lack of science. It was also good for him to get mixed up with his other self and be put on a trial! His defence of being from another universe and not the true Braxiatel was never going to serve him well. It was great to listen to though! The threat in the story coming in the form of a dragon was terrific, but I must say I was not expecting the reveal that Braxiatel himself – well another version – was the mystical beast! That was a fascinating conversation to say the least as Braxiatel gazed upon himself in a rather different form. I thought the inclusion of Narvin was good and his reaction to Brax calling Leela a savage was shocking! We didn't know that in this universe the pair were actually a couple which was fun to think about, but the former companion of the Doctor had been slain by the dragon. The beastly version of Brax was hardly remorseful about that which was a shame to hear. I liked how on this version of Gallifrey that Romana was viewed upon as the Queen rather than a Lord President. That fitted in very nicely with the magical landscape and it was a title befitting the name. Queen Romana. It just has a certain ring to it that absolutely works. Hearing Braxiatel do battle against his own dragon self was quite the way to go about things and it was a direction I wasn't expecting. I really enjoyed it though and I like how with this just being an instalment in a wider story arc and Brax finding his way through numerous Gallifreys that he was now back on his merry way. He touched upon how Romana, Narvin and Leela always seemed to find each other, but now he would quite like to find them. Overall, a terrific little listen! 

Rating: 8/10