The Gemini Contagion

"Science shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes."

Writer: Jason Arnopp
Format: Audio
Released: March 2011
Series: NSA 11

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy

Synopsis

The ice-planet Vinsk, in the year 2112. The all-new anti-viral handwash, Gemini, has been laced with Meme-Spawn: a sentient micro-organism which makes the user fluent in every language in the universe. However, manufacturer Zalnex made one crucial mistake. They didn't test Gemini on humans, who are seized by the violent urge to communicate but speak every language all at once – with a manic, garbled shriek – and pass on the virus by touch. The Doctor and Amy arrive on an Earth-bound cargo-ship loaded with Gemini, where a human crew are succumbing to the virus which has nasty second and third phases in store. When the Doctor and Amy are separated, they both know that it's only a matter of time before Amy is infected. With the ship locked on course, and no way of curing the sufferers, the Doctor is faced with a terrible decision: does he save Amy, or Earth?

Verdict

The Gemini Contagion was a decent audio story and pretty good way to continue my way through the Eleventh Doctor Tales collection through BorrowBox and my local library. I am eternally grateful to be able to listen to these stories free of charge as they are a format of audio that I am probably least inclined to purchase myself. It is through no fault of their own, but the fact that there is usually just the one actor or actress makes it quite difficult to stay engaged with what I'm listening to. Sometimes I think the very nature of the BBC Audio originals is their own worst enemy which is a real shame. That is perhaps a little harsh but it is just my personal standpoint when it comes to my listening preferences. Meera Syal did a very good job as narrator for this story and she was definitely a favoured actress of mine from Series 5 following her performance in The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. I thought her Welsh accent was a little bit off and stereotypical to be honest but that is only something I picked up on because I am Welsh myself. There were no major issues there! I liked the idea of the story very much and I thought it was a good move to have a futuristic but also quite near setting. This was just a century into the future and it seems that the advancements in technology skyrocket through the twenty-first century! It would take humanity all the way to Vinsk and I think a little more could have been made of the fact that this was an ice-planet. I must admit that I was rather sceptical when I read that this audio was going to be centred around a deadly hand wash. Whilst Doctor Who may have titles such as The Sinister Sponge and has shown how drawings can be evil in Fear Her, I initially thought hand wash was too far of a stretch. Thankfully, it didn't become the basis of the plot and it was actually more about one cubical element of the hand wash composition and that was Meme-Spawn. I thought the concept behind that was pretty good and intriguing and the idea of an infection in space is always great. I feel there just needed to be some more clarity regarding why Zalnex hadn't tested it on humans and how it came to be airborne. The crew getting infected and causing a death almost immediately after the Doctor and Amy arrived was good, and I thought it was humorous the way the Doctor reacted to being blamed for that. It really was textbook! The idea of the Meme-Spawn being fluent in every language they encountered was incredible and the Doctor reminiscing about hearing the language of his own people was quite lovely. I loved the idea of the struggles of the infected then trying to speak in every language all at once, but it should have been a little more impactful. There needed to be a little less buildup, especially as the story was quite lengthy for this format at 79 minutes, and more oomph factor happening. I felt a tad let down by the ease with which the Doctor eradicated the infection, but I did enjoy the turn of emotions at the ending with the decision to blow up the ship anyway to ensure that the infection was gone. Some of the characters seemed to come and go, but Musselbrook and Ramirez stood out most to me. Overall though, a decent little story that just needed a bit more impact.

Rating: 7/10