Doctor Who: Technophobia

After sixteen years of making audio plays featuring the first eight Doctors, Big Finish finally got the chance to launch a series with the tenth, allowing Tennant and Tate to reprise their characters from the TV show.

This first story, sensibly enough, is set in the present day, with the Doctor and Donna visiting an exhibition of modern technology before the inevitable alien invasion kicks off. This feels very much like a NuWho episode, and not just because of such obvious trappings as the returning actors and the use of Ten's version of the theme tune. For one thing, it's only an hour long - half the length of BF's standard stories, but closer to the length of a modern TV episode. The style of the invasion, the frequent use of the sonic, and even the running joke about people assuming that the Doctor and Donna are an item, all feel like they've popped right out of series four.

Tennant and Tate effortlessly pop back into their roles, adding to the feel that this is just an episode we didn't get to see. In fairness, while this is clearly written for Donna, it wouldn't have required much tweaking to be used with most other companions, but Ten's energy undeniably adds something you wouldn't have got from earlier Doctors.

As for the plot, as the title indicates, it's largely about the way our lives today are governed by technology, and how an excessive fear of the new could cripple us. While it wouldn't have had the same impact had it been set in, say, the '70s, the presence of mobile phones, tablets, and Siri are more window-dressing than the central point - the story is more about mistrusting them than it is about the items themselves. (Whereas The Bells of Saint John, for instance, is largely about wi-fi).

To be sure, the real boost here is getting to hear the characters again after an (at the time) eight-year absence, but it's also a reasonable - if not exceptional - story. For fans of the modern series this is a must, and a good jumping-on point for BF audio adaptations in general.