One Mile Down

"Your city is drowning."

Writer: Jenny T. Colgan
Format: Audio
Released: May 2019
Series: TDA 3.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

Donna and the Doctor take a holiday in the beautiful underwater city of Vallarasee.

Things have changed since the Doctor last swam through. Vallarasee is now enclosed in an airdome, with Judoon patrolling historic sites. Now, instead of tourists wearing breathing-helmets, native Fins are forced to adapt.

But leaks are trickling into the dome. The Judoon must be persuaded that disaster is imminent, or thousands will be trapped, as the waters rise...

Verdict

One Mile Down was a very good little story to continue along the third volume of the Tenth Doctor Adventures! The prospect of reuniting the Tenth Doctor with the Judoon was very exciting and I was very intrigued to discover that Donna would actually meet them before their first on-screen encounter in The Stolen Earth. This really wasn't what I expected from a Judoon story and that's not a problem at all, but it was nice to have something new with the junior Judoon. The Doctor had a lot of fun with them and was able to manipulate his position from being detained. The way he got put into detention was quite humorous and the literal way in which the Judoon take legislation was utilised pretty well. I have always enjoyed the problems that causes and it can also lead to some comical frustration from the Doctor. I thought the relationship between the Doctor and Donna was much better here compared with No Place and this seemed like it would seamlessly fit in with the run of Series 4. The Vallarasee setting was very good and it worked well that the Doctor had visited in its past where it wasn't under an airdome and that immediately meant that things had gone wrong. Donna watching infomercials was quite funny and I loved how much she liked the idea of the undertaker city holiday destination. The Doctor was sceptical throughout and that was really good. His reaction once he found out the truth and the extent of what had taken place to enable Vallarasee to be placed in an airdome. The Fins were a decent species, but I do think that they could have been improved. I think a little hint about the sabotage before it actually happened would have been beneficial but it was good that they were in their own helmets because the water had been completely sucked out of the city. That horrified the Doctor and he really wasn't impressed with all of the damage caused for monetary gain. It was obvious that he was going to be displeased with everything, but I also liked how apologetic he was when asked for change by a homeless person. His enthusiasm for giving a tip though was hilarious and so typical of this incarnation of the Doctor. Patricia was an interesting, if annoying, character and her role was definitely better than her voice. That sounds really harsh but I don't think her accent was too well-suited to the audio format. I really don't mean to offend there, it's probably a Welsh thing. Anyway, the ending was full of excitement and tension and I liked the danger of the airdome collapsing and the Doctor having to try and save 20,000 people who were 5,000ft below water. That was quite the conundrum! The use of the top of the spire and Donna seeing what the Doctor had seen on his past visit, and disagreeing with his conclusion, was excellent. The Doctor planning to use the Judoon's scoop as seen in Smith and Jones was very clever. Pickus was another good character, but again a slightly annoying one which was quite strange to have characters that were simultaneously interesting but annoying. Maybe I just listened to the story in a weird mood? Who knows, but I was offered a new job today so I don't think that's it! Regardless, the ending was good and the Doctor reflecting on the method used to restore the city was good because he didn't like it and he knew its people wouldn't either. Overall, a very good little audio adventure.

Rating: 8/10