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28 April 2025
“One Bad Apple” didn’t really come at a great time for me to actually read. I ended up reading it not long after relistening to Simon A. Forward’s The Sandman and like The Sandman, this is a story that has a lot of the problems associated with his work. “One Bad Apple” is an allegory for the Book of Genesis, specifically the creation, the fall of man, and the story of Cain and Abel. This all sounds like an interesting setup for a Doctor Who story, but Forward doesn’t actually ever do anything interesting with it, just keeping the Biblical allusions and having them play out as you would expect. That and Forward really likes to add in references to other pieces of Doctor Who to try and make things bigger than they are, specifically the Cybermen and the Cyber Wars are extensively referenced in the story. The actual fruit is used as this almost infection, Leela opening the story by eating it yet for her it never actually feels like a problem for her though it is for the supporting characters. The ending is suitably dramatic and that saves this from being a particularly bad story, but it’s also one I could see myself disliking more on reread which isn’t a good sign (it happened with The Sandman). 6/10.
Newt5996
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