The Memory Cheats

By Simon Guerrier (directed by Lisa Bowerman)
Story 6.02
Released 30 September, 2011

Having left Victoria in the 20th Century, the Doctor and Jamie met a brainy girl with a cute shape and a daring nerve named Zoe. An outcast in her own time, she agreed to travel with in the TARDIS to experience all that time and space could offer. During her time with the Doctor, Zoe fought the Cybermen, battled against a world of imagination and fantasy, defeated the Krotons, dueled with the Quarks and traversed several periods of Earth's history of warfare in a single setting. Through it all, she showed that she was not only a smart lass but a resourceful one with far more potential besides.

But unfortunately all of those memories were taken from her when the Doctor had to call upon his people for help. Back where she 'belongs,' Zoe is suspect as a subversive element. With near impassive resolve, she perseveres through a grueling interrogation process to unravel the truth behind who she is and the life she has led. Zoe has a remarkable memory that proves to be her greatest strength and (without giving too much away) tragically her downfall as well.

Back in her own time aboard the Wheel, Zoe's memory has been erased by the Time Lords. She remembers her first adventure with the stranger called the Doctor, but nothing more. However, Zoe Harriott is a special type of girl with a genius-level intellect and total recall. As such, she is something of a curiosity to her people. Suspected of subversive behavior, Zoe is interrogated by a specialist trained in getting answers from suspects. Using evidence of her presence in Uzbekistan in the early 20th Century, Zoe is prosecuted as a time traveler... but she never traveled in time.

The Memory Cheats is a marvelous adventure that operates on several levels. Written by the brilliant Simon Guerrier (the same man behind numerous stories such as The Perpetual Bond and the absolutely stunning Anarchronauts), the script for The Memory Cheats is sharper than a knife and twice as clever. As Zoe is interrogated, she insists that she cannot have traveled in time as it is completely impossible. Despite this claim, there is photographic and other evidence that she did indeed appear in Uzbekistan around 1919 alongside two bizarre characters during an inexplicable event involving missing children.

With the ability to travel through time her only defense, Zoe crafts a tale of the Doctor and Jamie arriving in Uzbekistan, a war-ridden place full of fear and plagued by a boogeyman who steals children in the middle of the night. Her interrogator fills in the gaps with eye witness reports and documentation, goading Zoe to elaborate her tale further... and while she puts up a fight, the details keep coming.

What transpires is a missing adventure of the Second Doctor set in Earth's past that fits perfectly with the mood and style of the program. Guerrier has (once again) caught the feel of the 1960's and delivered a moody piece with plenty of drama and spooky moments that leave the listener worried about what comes next. And of course that's exactly what Zoe wants, someone to listen while she tells her tale.

Zoe, the Doctor and Jamie

It has been pointed out numerous times that the scripts and production value of Big Finish are second to none but I simply must echo that here. The bleak landscape and distant sound of children playing football with Jamie are so evocative that the listener is drawn into the experience. As the drama deepens and the nature of the threat becomes more apparent, the noose closes in and the real monsters are revealed.

Deep in the hills lies a craft that has become embedded in the landscape. Beneath a sleek metal exterior, an organic interior contains a series of pods containing the missing children. But that's not the real horror of this story at all, it's the details that Zoe has hidden along her narrative to her interrogator that reveal a far greater secret that is much scarier than a monster from the stars. It involves genetic and behavioral manipulation to produce the peak potential of the human mind. A secret that has alluded everyone until now.

Perhaps it's the mystery of the Second Doctor's era that attracts me so, but I am such a fan of this period. I was therefore nervous to listen to this story with fears that it would unravel the love nest that I had built for the period of the program that is mostly lost.

There's a danger to transform Doctor Who into an edgy modern drama that appeals to younger listeners rather than pay homage to the past. There's understandably an equally dangerous possibility of sticking too close to the program's past and simply retelling stories that have already been told. Of course I was pleasantly surprised by both a loving representation of the past along with a modern twist from Mr. Guerrier.

I don't care how old she is, Wendy Padbury is still cute as a button and her acting skills have only sharpened since her time on Doctor Who long ago. Acting opposite Wendy is her daughter Charlie Hayes in their first collaboration. In the after notes, both ladies sound uneasy about working together (Wendy did live in her daughter's flat for the duration of the recording which was a bit awkward... which I can understand), but they blend wonderfully together. At times I mixed up their voices, but that's understandable.

Zoe's impersonation of Frazier Hines as Jamie is touching but a bit on the silly side. Her version of the Doctor, however, is spot on. It seems that everyone who worked with Patrick Troughton was infected by his persona and can replicate it not just for accuracy but as an act of adoration as well. You can feel the emotional intent in Padbury's Doctor and it's lovely.

It's a joy to be taken back in time to another era of Doctor Who, especially when it is a time that is sadly still missing to modern viewers. It is also a gift that Big Finish has filled that gap with such a scintillating and refined story as The Memory Cheats, an adventure that is much more than it appears to be and leaves the listener wanting more.

Doctor Who - The Memory Cheats can be ordered directly from Big Finish and from local retailers such as Mike's Comics.

Also recommended:

Doctor Who: The Mind Robber

Doctor Who: The Invasion

Doctor Who: The Dominators

Doctor Who: The War Games