Doctor Who Review: Eighth Doctor audio ‘Memory Lane’
By James Aggas
The Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz find themselves on a very strange suburban street in ‘Memory Lane’.
Eddie Robson is one Big Finish writer that I’ve long been a fan of. He has a distinctive style that has allowed him to write Doctor Who stories that feel fresh and modern, while at the same time, stick to the heart of what makes the series so special.
Even with his debut story, Memory Lane, it’s clear how much of a natural fit he is. Especially with telling Who stories in the audio medium. Memory Lane is absolutely filled with great ideas that are easy to visualize. A seemingly ordinary street that seems to go on forever. Houses that all look exactly the same. Adults acting like they’re ten years old. Very simple ideas that make the story easy to imagine, which is exactly what you want when telling a completely original audio story.
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I also appreciate how well the story is told across its four episodes. In my last review, Something Inside, I mentioned that the story had severe pacing problems that could’ve been fixed if it had been built up better.
With Memory Lane, there are no such problems. The story begins with a very intriguing mystery, establishing a seemingly ordinary scenario before giving the listener more and more clues to let them know that something is wrong. I always enjoy a good mystery in Doctor Who, especially when told in the serial template of the Classic Series. It’s a nice, enjoyable way for the story to unfold across two hours. Memory Lane is a great example of the weird, sci-fi mysteries that Doctor Who can tell.
An (extra)ordinary world
One more thing I enjoyed is the mixture of the ordinary with the sci-fi. This sounds like a very common idea with Doctor Who, especially during the Russell T. Davies era. And that’s probably one of my favourite things about the show. That idea that just beneath the surface of our ordinary world, there’s another world of aliens and monsters and strange adventures. When Doctor Who does balances the ordinary with the extraordinary just right, it’s pure escapism.
Eddie Robson’s style is a little more distinctive. Less cheesy or silly than Russell T. Davies’s take on this kind of story, such as Rose, Love & Monsters or Partners in Crime, but still a lot of fun. This is a style that Robson develops over his many subsequent stories. But it’s great to see him start so strongly with it almost immediately.
Compared to the last few Eighth Doctor stories, Memory Lane feels like a breath of fresh air. In some ways, it almost feels “back to basics” for the Eighth Doctor. A mixture of modern day and science-fiction. A nice sense of humour. A good mystery to solve. Essentially, it’s another stand-alone story, but it’s also a very strong entry. It’s not surprising that, within less than a year, he would be writing some pretty major episodes for McGann’s Doctor. But more on that later.
Next: Review: Eighth Doctor audio ‘Something Inside’