Babblesphere

This is a really strong story that concerns the Doctor and Romana landing on a human colony where the inhabitants have been injected with this computer chip in their head that grants them to the 'Babble': a social network where users post trivial information about their day.

It's probably the story that so far (four audiobooks in) feels the most true to its era, despite social media having not been around in the 70s when those serials were aired. It's just so easy to imagine Tom Baker and Lalla Ward wandering around a wobbly set and encountering the robots of the story.

Babblesphere features some very smart and witty commentary on social media, and the dangers of becoming too addicted. How we can lose ourselves in it and become mindless entities wandering around in their own little bubbles, ignoring what is going on around them. It's such a topical issue in the modern age, and something that will undoubtedly continue to be talked about as we learn more about the effects of social media on everyday people.

Lalla Ward is such a great audiobook reader, and helps to really sell the story. I honestly wouldn't have been opposed to her narrating every story in this collection; I think she has a great voice for audiobooks.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Shada

Easily my favourite Destiny of the Doctor story so far. It's really well-narrated, Lalla Ward captures Tom Baker's mannerisms perfectly. The main premise is essentially Dot and Bubble, but done better. The cameo at the end by the 11th Doctor is quite funny and the Chumbleys being the Doctor's favourite enemy is such a Doctor-y thing.

Next Story: Wave of Destruction

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