Start to Finish: 6.03 - The Memory Cheats

Image (c) Big Finish Productions Ltd

As the series progresses, not only do the formats of the Companion Chronicles get more varied, they also begin to build up complex post-travel histories for some of the Companions. Such is the case with Zoe Herriot, whose story picks up in The Memory Cheats, with a framing narrative that is a direct sequel to Echoes of Grey.

Zoe Herriot remembers everything, and she knows she never traveled with the Doctor. So why is she under arrest, charged with various crimes, and presented with a chance to save herself if only she can explain what happened in Uzbekistan in 1919?

Having denied the Company her help in Echoes of Grey, the framing narrative for Simon Guerrier's The Memory Cheats picks up Zoe's story in prison, with a court-appointed defender urging Zoe to recall the information she needs for a plea bargain. Unusually, this Chronicle plays very much with the idea of the Companion as an unreliable narrator, not as a result of forgetfulness, but deliberation. Zoe specifically claims that her story is false, and peppered with hints to manipulate her listener, although the audience is left unsure.

Wendy Padbury is joined by her daughter Charlie Hayes, no stranger to the Chronicles having played Gatlin in Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code, as Jen, and the interview room scenes click well. The story is somewhat strange and unsettling. In fact many of the Zoe Chronicles have an air of claustrophobic menace about them, but in this instance Zoe's attempts to manipulate Jen's perceptions lead to some distinctly odd character moments.

Next, more perceptual shenanigans in The Many Deaths of Jo Grant.