Technophobia

The Tenth Doctor Adventures #1.1

Released: 16 May 2016

Listened: 11/5/22

When this story came out in 2016, it was the first new-series story with the original actors, and there was a lot of excitement around it, enough to crash the Big Finish servers. I admit to being part of that excitement myself; hearing the series 4 theme again after so long put a big stupid smile on my face. Looking at it in the context of this larger project, though, it’s kind of a middle-of-the-road story, something very typical of the period in which it’s set. The Doctor and Donna are in London, “a few years” after Donna’s native 2008, although she’s being careful not to learn anything that could disrupt the timeline. In particular, the smartphone revolution has happened while she was gone, and Donna doesn’t care for “swipey stuff,” although the Doctor is in his element. Except that all over London, people start losing their ability to interact with technology, and then to become actively afraid of it (hence the title). The Doctor and Donna are immune for a while, but even they start to be affected eventually. The focus is on the mystery, and also on Donna interacting with people, usually with her trademark empathy. The aliens themselves really aren’t all that impressive, but that’s not the point. The banter between the Doctor and Donna is good, but not sublime. Which is fine, really; it’s a good start.