Missing Time

***Missing Time*** is the first episode of season 4.

## Synopsis

Aboard the space station IS, a lonely mechanic’s morning commute is interrupted by the sudden arrival of a mysterious stranger. Elsewhere, Carrie finds herself on an unexpected journey.

## Plot

Lita Fane, a mechanic living aboard the IS, stops at the newsagent run by Doug to get a coffee and a granola bar. She opines about the poor quality of the coffee and complains that Imelda doesn't share resources before continuing her commute to her workshop. Shortly after, Doug hears a strange noise. There is a burst of light, and he disappears. Lita, hearing this, turns around to find the section where Doug's newsstand had one been was now gone - a common occurrence aboard the IS.

She passes a pile of debris, one of many aboard the station, and hears a voice. It's the Doctor. She helps him out of the debris. He reveals that a few moments ago he was a woman, and the last thing he remembers is his ship exploding. Lita asks if he's taking passengers.

Elsewhere, Carrie awakens in a garden. She meets a Tree of Cheem named Rorick whom she calls Treebeard. She explains she was just with a friend, but that they appear to have been separated. Rorick offers to help Carrie find Rorick. As they leave the garden, Carrie begins listing double-acts.

Lita takes the Doctor to meet Imelda, who is in the middle of settling a dispute between two IS residents - Kreely and Moira Davidsmum. Lita explains to Imelda that Doug's newsagents has vanished. Also present are a human, Captain Anthony Edwards, and Xerox, an Auton. Upon seeing the Auton, the Doctor has a brief moment where he begins to say something xenophobic, catches himself, then passes out. Lita and Edwards then head to the IS' Medical Bay to retrieve some smelling salts - as they leave with the smelling salts in-hand, neither one notices that the smelling salts Lita just took are also still on the counter where she collected them. Edwards is also revealed to the audience to be a Time Agent in this moment.

Carrie and Rorick pass through a library with odd dimensions resembling a painting by M.C. Escher. They encounter doors that leads into other doors they couldn't physically be connected to, large books with small shelves on them, and books that serve as doors, among other oddities. They successfully traverse the space.

The Doctor regains consciousness. He uses a PA system to communicate with Carrie, and Carrie and Rorick begin heading to their location.

*To be added'*

## Cast

* The Doctor - Dan Peck
* Carrie - Châu Kate Lê
* Lita - Ben Paddon
* Engineer - Michael Nixon
* Game Missy, all other characters - Riley Silverman

## Crew

* Editing and Sound Design - Ben Paddon
* Theme music arrangement - Adam Sakellarides
* Story - Riley Silverman, Michael Nixon

## NPCs

### Major

* Imelda
* Captain Anthony Edwards

### Minor

* Doug
* Kreely
* Moira Davidsmum
* Rorick
* Xerox

## Continuity

* The Doctor has recently regenerated (*The Enemy Within*) and is experiencing post-regenerative trauma.
* Granola bars make frequent appearances. (*Recursion of the Daleks*)
* Captain Anthony "Tony" Edwards is a Time Agent with a Squareness Gun. As with many other Time Agents who have appeared in the show, he appears to be named after American actor and director Anthony Edwards. (*Active Decay*, *Cold Comfort*)

## Production

* As well as debuting a new Doctor and new GM, this is the first episode in the series proper to use the rules for *Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game - Second Edition*. The rules were previously used in the 2022 Gallifrey One live show, *Time Squared*.
* This also marks the debut of a new theme arrangement by Adam Sakellarides.
* Unlike the previous seasons, where one serial was typically grouped under a single title, this episode marks the debut of a new title structure - episodes under the same "serial" have individual titles, akin to how *Doctor Who* handled multi-part stories during the BBC Wales / BBC Studios era. The cliffhanger for this episode is resolved in the following episode, *Living Space.*