Paul T. Hillam's Time Trace was an ambitious project which set itself high targets, claiming to eventually form "the ultimate audio documentary of Doctor Who". Designed as a 7-part series with each release dealing with the era of a particular Doctor, Time Trace first surfaced in the March 1989 edition of the DWAS' Celestial Toyroom newsletter. The advert that appeared in that issue announced the release of the first two installments of this Doctor Who part-work, one for the William Hartnell era, the other for Patrick Troughton's. These were each of ninety minutes duration and both tapes were reviewed in CT by Lynn Burns two months later. Burns complimented Hillam on his enthusiasm and the effort that he had put in, while commenting that the "deadpan and hesitant delivery" made for a difficult listen, noting that "documentary seems to make people very straight laced". Fortunately, the reviewer found the second issue "a great improvement", even if "the content is rather predictable".

Battered but unbowed, Hillam continued his series, with Time Trace 3, focusing on the Pertwee years, being issued in February 1990 as a two-hour programme. Possibly taking on board the comments he had read in the Celestial Toyroom review, Hillam gave the third issue an "absolutely spiffing new look", making changes to content and style, while trumpeting technical advances in his recording processes.