Human Resources, Part 1

Eighth Doctor Adventures #1.7

Released: 11 February 2007

Listened: 9/13/21

We’ve reached another tradition adopted from the new series: the two-part blockbuster season finale with one of the Doctor’s old enemies. In addition, this one also adopts the new-series trope of something that seems like ordinary modern life actually being sinister. In this case, it’s an ordinary office job, specifically the one that Lucie had been hired for just before meeting the Doctor. It seems like ordinary, bland data-entry, but the inconsistencies start to add up: nobody ever takes breaks, the windows don’t open, and no one can go outside. The Doctor, meanwhile, is sent after Lucie by the Time Lords, specifically Straxus, making his introductory appearance (although we saw him in “The Light at the End”). Both the Doctor and Lucie play along with the charade in order to figure out what’s going on, which allows writer Eddie Robson to get in plenty of corporate satire and jargon, most of which is pretty funny. Lucie eventually gets herself fired, which leads to discovering that the world outside the office is rather grim and war-torn. The Doctor tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, and discovers that he may have been helping the wrong side. As a two-parter, the plot has more room to breathe, and allows for the main characters to be kept in the dark for quite a while. This may not be the strongest of this season’s stories, but it definitely accomplishes the remit.