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Memory Lane
(Eddie Robson) |
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 The
Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’rizz take a stroll
down "Memory Lane" in October 2006. Eddie Robson’s
story sees the travellers locked in a suburban Hell where
there really is nothing at the end of the lane. This
story has been directed by Gary Russell and was recorded
on 18th November 2005.
Joining
the regular cast members; Paul McGann, India Fisher and
Conrad Westmaas, are: Nina Baden-Semper, Sara Carver,
Finlay Glen, Neil Reidman, Charlie Ross, Neville Watchurst
and actress Anneke Wills - who played the part of Polly
in the television series between 1966 and 1967 during
the end of the First Doctor’s era and at the beginning
of the Second Doctor’s era. Anneke is not reprising
her role as Polly in "Memory Lane" but is playing
the part of Lady Louisa Pollard.
No
summer can ever quite be as glorious as the ones you
remember from when you were young, when a sunny afternoon
seemed to last forever and all there was to do was ride
your bike, eat ice-lollies and play with Lego.
Tom Braudy is enjoying such a glorious, sunny afternoon
when the TARDIS lands in his Nan's living room and interrupts
her in the middle of the snooker. After they've apologised,
The Doctor and his friends soon discover matters of far
greater concern than the fact that their time machine
is blocking Mrs Braudy's view of a thrilling century
break.
After
a visit to an ice-cream van, and The Doctor recovers
from the disappointment that he can’t buy a Sky
Ray, they realise they have forgotten which house the
TARDIS is in – which is not difficult considering
every one looks exactly the same – even down to
their colouring, type of curtains in the windows and
with the same woman behind every door. Is this the future
of suburbia, or something even more sinister?
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| Eighth Doctor |
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They
decide therefore to split up and so start to knock on
the front doors to try and identify the correct house.
While Charley gets to play Lego with Tom, and invited
to stay for tea, C'rizz is knocked unconscious and wakes
up in a space ship and threatened with a ray gun held
by Kim, who claims to be an astronaut.
The
Doctor meanwhile witnesses his TARDIS being carted off
on the roof of the ice-cream van. But this is the least
of his worries when he discovers that a strange broadcast
has appeared on Mrs Braudy's television. Could the astronaut
in the programme be Tom who is happily playing with his
Lego with Charley.
What
is really behind the endless series of identical houses,
a grown man behaving like a 10-year-old child and the
sinister ice-cream van driving around the neighbourhood?
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| India
Fisher |
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And
then a spaceship lands on the roofs – a spaceship
that Kim recognises as hers. Once onboard Tom starts
to remember events that happened to him previously. Like
something that attacked them…
Why
doesn't Tom look as young as he behaves and what has
happened to him since his exploits in outer-space? Can
the TARDIS really have landed The Doctor and his companions
in the middle of a prison and if so what crime has Tom
committed? And what other event has Tom forgotten - an
event so horrific that things for Tom will never been
the same when he goes onboard his spaceship again.
Why
are two bickering aliens, Argot and Lest, doing what
they’re doing to Tom and will The Doctor withstand
the tortures that Argot and Lest subject him to when
he and Charley become a prisoners themselves? And what
of C'rizz? Will he and Kim be able to free them both
so they can all escape from this strange world? - a world
made of memories...
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Notes:
- Featuring the Eighth
Doctor,
Charley Pollard and C'rizz.
- Serial Number: 8YC
- Number of Episodes: 4
- Cover Length: 100 minutes
- Episode Lengths: 1 = 20'02", 2 = 24'33",
3 = 25'13", 4 = 23'47"
- Total Story Length: 93'35"
- This story takes place after "Doctor
Who: The Movie" and follows on from "Something
Inside".
- Cover Illustration: Lee Binding
- Recorded: 18th November 2005
- Recording Location: The Moat Studios
- Released: October 2006
- ISBN: 1-84435-179-3
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On the Back Cover:
No summer can ever quite
be as glorious as the ones you remember from when
you were young, when a sunny afternoon seemed to
last forever and all there was to do was ride your
bike, eat ice-lollies and play with Lego. Tom Braudy
is enjoying just such an afternoon when the TARDIS
lands in his Nan's living room and interrupts her
in the middle of the snooker.
After they've apologised,
The Doctor and his friends soon discover matters
of far greater concern than the fact that their time
machine is blocking Mrs Braudy's view of a thrilling
century break. The street which Tom happily cycles
up and down appears to have no beginning or end,
and every single house on it is identical.
Is this the future
of suburbia, or something even more sinister? Why
doesn't Tom look as young as he behaves? And can
anybody remember which house the TARDIS is in?
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On the Inside Cover:
I tend to think Doctor
Who is at its best when making unusual juxtapositions,
and not just the standard ‘monsters in your
high street’ stuff. It’s a place where
you might find an eleventh-century monk with a phonograph,
Edwardian yachts racing around the solar system,
or an alien scientist’s spaceship in the cellar
of a Victorian house. So that’s the approach
I tend to take when generating a Who idea, I try
to come up with one of those arresting combinations
and use that as a starting point.
The juxtaposition which became
Memory Lane was one of dozens I tried out in my head
whilst slumped in front of the TV watching the 2005
World Snooker Championships and insisting to sceptical
onlookers that contrary to appearances, I was hard
at work. The concept of the street came first. The
ice cream van, Lady Pollard and the lost astronaut
came later, still following the principle of combining
odd things and using Doctor Who as a means for tying
them all together into a plot.
I
could go on to make some cheesy old metaphor about
fitting the pieces of the story together like Lego,
but it’d be a facetious comparison to make. Lego-building
is of course a far more disciplined activity than writing.
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Eddie Robson,
July 2006 |
Eddie Robson
has written a number a books on film, including guides
is film noir and the work of the Coen Brothers. He has
also contributed fiction to Big Finish’s range
of Doctor Who - Short Trips compendiums. This
is his first Doctor Who audio drama. |
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Who's Who?
The Eighth Doctor
First television appearance: Doctor Who
First Big Finish audio appearance: "Storm
Warning"
After
a prolonged time trapped in an alternative universe,
the Eighth Doctor recently found his way home, along
with his longtime companion Charley Pollard and their
new Etttermesan friend, C’rizz. Since being back,
they’ve faced dangers on alien planets, in Victorian
high society and, most terrifying of all, a future Earth
almost entirely populated by The Doctor’s oldest
and most bitter foes, Daleks. Wherever the TARDIS takes
him, it seems there’s no respite...
Charley Pollard
First Big Finish audio appearance: "Storm
Warning".
Charley
was rescued by The Doctor from aboard the ill-fated R101
airship in 1930. With scant regard for her own safety,
and thus against The Doctor’s wishes, she went
with her best friend into the Divergent Universe, knowing
that she might never see Earth - or anyone she has known
and loved - ever again. However, after resisting a number
of temptations to abandon The Doctor and C’rizz,
she stuck by them and has been rewarded by returning
to her own universe. Whether that proves to be a wise
or safer course of action remains to be seen...
C'rizz
First Big Finish audio appearance: "The
Creed of the Kromon".
A
Eutermesan, C’rizz’s natural curiosity made
him join The Doctor and Charley and, although an outwardly
peaceful man, the truth has slowly been emerging that
his past might not have been as pure and innocent as
Charley and The Doctor currently believe. Genetically
engineered to absorb the colours, emotions and even ideals
of those around him, he now fights to stop himself getting
lost amongst the myriad personalities that co-exist within
his mind. Personalities that were once alive but are
now dead – seemingly at C’rizz’s own
hand. Personalities that his travelling companions remain
ignorant about... |
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The Cast Gallery:
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The Eighth Doctor - Played by Paul McGann
‘I’ll find out using my
super Time Lord powers of looking out of the
window.’ |
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Charley
Pollard - Played by India Fisher ‘You
were watching television whilst we were out
looking for the TARDIS?’
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C’rizz
- Played by Conrad Westmaas ‘Perhaps,
just for once, the voices can do something
for me.’
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Lady
Louisa Pollard - Played by Anneke Willis
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,
Lottie. It seems as though never a minute passes
without you sustaining an injury as a consequence
of some reckless enterprise.’
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Kim
- Played by Sara Carver ‘Not
being afraid of dying and not wanting to
die aren’t the same thing. Are you
brave, or just tired of life?’
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Tom
Braudy - Played by Neil Reidman ‘Space
Lego isn’t for girls. Girls like building
hairdressers and flower shops, not rockets
and satellites and all that good stuff.’
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Mrs
Braudy - Played by Nina Baden-Semper ‘Don’t
hurry on my account. Stay and watch the end
of the session if you want. Would you like
a cup of tea, at all.’
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Lest
- Played by Charlie Ross
‘I’m very grateful to
you Doctor. I honestly thought I’d
never escape from a life of servitude to
the evil Mawvik. Excuse me, I thought I might
go and find something to eat.’
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Argot
- Played by Neville Watchurst ‘Funny
shape for a vehicle, isn’t it? Still,
that’s aliens for you.’
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Mawvik
- Played by Finlay Glen ‘And
you shall pay for that mistake. But not before
your companions do.’ |
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Full Cast List:
| The Doctor |
Paul McGann |
| Charley Pollard |
India Fisher |
| C'rizz |
Conrad Westmaas |
| Mrs Braudy |
Nina Baden-Semper |
| Kim Kronotska |
Sara Carver |
| Mawvik |
Finlay Glen |
| Tom Braudy |
Neil Reidman |
| Lest |
Charlie Ross |
| Argot |
Neville Watchurst |
| Lady Louisa Pollard |
Anneke Willis |
The Production Team:
| Writer |
Eddie Robson |
| Director |
Gary Russell |
| Sound/Music |
David Darlington |
| Theme Music |
David Darlington |
| Producers |
Gary Russell and
Jason Haigh-Ellery |
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