One Mile Down

The Tenth Doctor Adventures #3.2

Released: 16 May 2019

Listened: 11/5/22

It’s funny that this story from the second set appears so early in the timeline, but it makes sense. Donna is still a bit new, obsessing about her shoes, willing to go along with the official tour, and referring to the sonic as the “buzzy thing.” She convinces the Doctor to take her to Vallarasee, a water planet with magnificent underwater cathedrals made of coral. The native Vallarasee are water-breathers, but the Galactic Trust has come in to “preserve” the city…by draining it of water and turning it into a tourist attraction. And bringing in the Judoon to police the place, which means we get Nick Briggs voicing them, and David Tennant speaking bits of Judoonese, because of course. There’s even a “junior Judoon” with a higher-pitched voice and a slightly open mind, giving hope for the species. Of course, this is a Tenth Doctor story, so disaster is always imminent, in the form of the air dome collapsing. Almost all of the characters have serious flaws, from the oblivious human administrator to the racist tourist to the cultural appropriator. And the Doctor spares none of them his contempt as he’s saving them, his arrogance coming through fairly strongly. He’s trying to be nicer to Donna; although he clearly doesn’t want to do touristy things, Donna’s still getting her feet wet, as it were. This is the first story in this project with both Tate and Tennant together, and their banter naturally sparkles, even in this period where they’re still being a bit tentative with each other. Some interesting guest casting here, including Rakie Ayola, who played the Hostess in “Midnight,” and Eleanor Crooks and Christopher Naylor, who will later go on to play Naomi Cross and Harry Sullivan.