Episode Preview: Áhreddan

“Memory Stations are known across the galaxy as places where one’s memories, whether analog, digital, or synaptic, can be stored, retrieved, shared, deleted, re-experienced, re-mixed.”

It’s an urban legend that the Alpha Quadrant’s Memory Station is haunted, but Captain Waldron, space pirate extraordinaire, wasn’t expecting the most vulnerable member of her crew to vanish shortly after they boarded it, nor did she plan for the strange creatures roaming its corridors.

Then there’s the bizarre matter of the American diner in the cargo bay, and the undead woman inside, offering her help to organise a rescue mission that will lead them through layers of time and thoughts.

They’re all going to take a trip down memory lane, but what the past hides isn’t always pleasant…

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If a 'Citizen of the Universe' is a transitional story, bridging Doctor Who with the exciting new world of The Untold Adventures, then the second episode, Áhreddan', is where its identity really crystallises. In many respects, this is the first ‘ordinary’ adventure for Clara and Me, setting up the new status quo. It’s a huge responsibility, but writer Laine Ferio more than stepped up to the task.

She is an archivist by trade, and this heavily influenced the story. There’s a very Jamie Mathieson (known for acclaimed Twelfth Doctor episodes ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’, ‘Flatline’ and ‘Oxygen’) streak to it in that the episode draws from a lot of classic Doctor Who tropes (haunted space stations, technology out of control, etc.), but it uses that base to deftly explore the concept of memories and how they shape our reality. If it’s a base under siege, what’s laying the siege is the characters’ own interiority. Me as a character very-much fits within that framework. She is largely defined by memories; her limited supply of them while she lived an infinite life, and those chronicled in her diaries. ‘Áhreddan’ interrogates the practicalities of archive work, of what storing information on computers or paper can mean for those involved, and inevitably this brings to light subjects of particular significance for Me. Indeed, it was the first story of the series to be completed, and has been used as a reference point for writing her character throughout the rest of the process.

After the opener, which was focused on embracing the size and scope of all these new narrative possibilities, this story is a lot more self-contained, with an ensemble cast more rooted in reality (well, as much as ‘space pirates’ can be); they’re smugglers just doing their jobs. Naturally, this leads to some tension with Clara. Without the Doctor by her side, we’re seeing her take on their role more than ever before, but this comes with its own challenges; not least becoming accustomed to her new physical state post-extraction, and the unease and suspicion her presence elicits. Said crew is also a family, and that further informs the episode’s themes. The theme of legacy is a key one in the series, with Clara having to carry (or sometimes distance herself from) the Doctor’s name and principles. Ultimately, Áhreddan is about what people leave behind, and ‘how’ exactly they’re left behind.

Of course, none of that tells you who or what 'Áhreddan' actually is. Well, you’ll find out soon enough...