REVIEW: ‘Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia’

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia is produced by Big Finish productions and has recently arrived on Serial Box, starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate. The Doctor and Donna Noble travel to near-future London just to see how the world has changed from the present day. On the day they arrive a new mobile device is releasing. It’s touted as the hottest new thing on the market. With a new, user-friendly design, this new piece of tech looks to revolutionize the market. But hanging over this launch is an odd sense of fear. A dread of the new tech seems to permeate the city. Just what is causing this fear? Can the Doctor and his companion discern what is causing it?

Like many Sci-Fi fans, the 2005 return of Doctor Who was my first experience with the science fiction icon. I immediately became enraptured with the quirky time-traveling hero and loved Tennant’s take on the character when he took over the role. It’s been a while since I got to experience a Tennant adventure for the Doctor so getting the notification that Serial Box had gotten a series of them was a pleasant surprise.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia is a bit different from the other audio offerings people might be used to experiencing on Serial Box. This is not an audiobook. Rather this is more akin to listening to a tv episode. There is no narration. All you hear is the spoken dialogue and any random sound effects that might happen. This isn’t an inherently bad thing, just might surprise those not expecting it.

The story told in Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia certainly feels designed with its format in mind. There are never more than three to four people in a given scene and with two of them almost always being the extremely recognizable voices of Tennant and Tate who the other two or so characters are is usually fairly easy to follow.

The story itself is an interesting tale that has a couple of good twists in it. What causes the denizens of London to suffer from their collective growing fear of their newest technology surprised me. That having been said, it is a fairly standard quality Doctor Who adventure. All of this era’s hallmarks are present here. Tennant goes on plenty of high energy rants, while Tate wields her character’s classic authority well. Beyond hitting the notes one expects however, there isn’t a whole lot here. Leaving this as an enjoyable, if average, effort.

The rest of the cast exists mostly to enable these characters, giving them a reason to work their trademark magic. Looking for anything more from these decent performances will almost certainly leave the listener wanting. This is partly due to the voice talent themselves not delivering much, while some of the blame must also fall on a script that doesn’t really give them anything to work with. Existing mostly as talking props to be either saved or defeated by the Doctor.

If you enjoyed this era of the Doctor you should find plenty to enjoy in Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia. However, if this duo or Doctor Who in general has never been your preferred science fiction experience, I can’t imagine this story will be the one that wins you over. Although, with this adventure available for free, and two more to purchase if you enjoy this one, it might be worth the hour listen just to give it a shot.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia is available now.