Trace Memory is a BBC Books

BBC Books

BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...

 original novel written by David Llewellyn

David Llewellyn (author)

David Llewellyn , is a Welsh novelist. He grew up in Pontypool and graduated from Dartington College of Arts in 2000. His first novel, Eleven, was published by Seren Press in 2006. His second novel, Trace Memory, a spin-off of the BBC drama series Torchwood was published in March 2008. Everything...

 and based on the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 science fiction television

Science fiction on television

Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...

, Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 series Torchwood

Torchwood

Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...

. It features all the regular cast of the show. It was published on 6 March 2008.

Plot introduction

After a mysterious crate containing an alien orb, destined for Torchwood, explodes on the docks at Tiger Bay

Tiger Bay

Tiger Bay was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. It was re-branded as Cardiff Bay following the building of the Cardiff Barrage which dams the tidal rivers Ely and Taff to create a body of water.-History:...

 in 1953, young docker Michael Bellini is sent bouncing randomly through time and space. He ends up in the Hub where all the current members of Torchwood realise they have met him at earlier times in their lives. Meanwhile, 'The Men in Bowler Hats' are following Michael as he jumps unpredictably from era to era...

Continuity

• The events of "The Empty Child
  The Empty Child
  "The Empty Child" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 21 May 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episode, "The Doctor Dances", was broadcast on 28 May...
  
  "/"The Doctor Dances
  The Doctor Dances
  "The Doctor Dances" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 28 May 2005. It is the second of a two-part story and saw Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman, join the Doctor as a companion. The first part, "The Empty Child", was...
  
  ", The Curse of Fenric
  The Curse of Fenric
  The Curse of Fenric is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 25 October to 15 November 1989...
  
  , "Tooth and Claw
  Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)
  "Tooth and Claw" is the second episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria...
  
  ", "To the Last Man
  To the Last Man (Torchwood)
  "To the Last Man" is the third episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast by BBC Two on 30 January 2008.-Synopsis:...
  
  ", "The Unquiet Dead
  The Unquiet Dead
  "The Unquiet Dead" is an episode in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 9 April 2005 and is the first episode of the revival to be set in the past. In Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and creatures made of gas are on the loose...
  
  " and the fairies that feature in "Small Worlds
  Small Worlds (Torchwood)
  "Small Worlds" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the fifth episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 12 November 2006...
  
  " are all referenced by Hugo Faulkner.
• The explorer who discovers the Vondraxian Orb is referred to as "Nelson-Stanley", who may be Edgar Nelson-Stanley, the husband of The Sarah Jane Adventures
  The Sarah Jane Adventures
  The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
  
  character Bea Nelson-Stanley who appears in the serial, "Eye of the Gorgon
  Eye of the Gorgon
  Eye of the Gorgon is the third story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the third and fourth episodes of the show's first series...
  
  ".
• Gwen's first day alongside PC Andy
  Andy Davidson (Torchwood)
  Andy Davidson is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, portrayed by Tom Price. Andy, an officer with the South Wales Police, is a supporting character who first appears in Torchwoods premiere episode "Everything Changes" and recurs regularly from thereon...
  
   in the police force is depicted.
• Gwen mentions events from Torchwood episode Out of Time
  Out of Time (Torchwood)
  "Out of Time" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Torchwood, which was broadcast on 17 December 2006. It is the tenth episode of the first series.- Synopsis :...
  
  .
• The device shown in Torchwood episode Ghost Machine
  Ghost Machine (Torchwood)
  "Ghost Machine" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It is the third episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 29 October 2006.-Synopsis:...
  
  is also mentioned.