Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“THE HERO FACTOR: A SHALLOW PARODY OF THE TENTH DOCTOR ERA”

The Hero Factor drops the Doctor and Rose onto an alien planet just as it faces an invasion, but rather than a gripping adventure, what follows is a hollow imitation of the Tenth Doctor era. The Doctor is reduced to a quip machine, firing off one-liners at an exhausting pace, while Rose is left with absolutely nothing to do. The villain, a forgettable octopus-like creature, is defeated in an embarrassingly silly way—by its own technology and the Doctor’s antics, rather than any clever plan.

WORLD-BUILDING WITHOUT SUBSTANCE

The story attempts to establish a vibrant world by tossing out a slew of alien names and concepts, but there’s no real effort to make them feel meaningful. Instead of immersing the reader in an interesting setting, it feels more like a rushed checklist of generic sci-fi tropes. Even the supposed satire—embodied by Jazami Paxxo, a journalist parodying a real-world TV interviewer—falls flat, as the reference fails to land.

VERDICT: A PARODY RATHER THAN A STORY

Instead of capturing the wit and excitement of Doctor Who during the Tennant era, this story feels like a bad parody of it. The Doctor’s exaggerated goofiness, the shallow villain, and the lack of emotional depth make for a frustratingly pointless read. If there’s one saving grace, it’s that the story is mercifully short.

📝4/10

A rather silly little tale which strongly reminded me of the Doctor Who Adventures comic strips - the Doctor and Rose mucking around and being sucked into the machinations of a really over the top villain.  A good dose of silly pop culture references - initially the Doctor finds himself in a TV studio being interviewed by a Jazami Paxxo (as in Jeremy Paxman) - add to a story which feels like it is painted in the bright, bold colours of a DWA comic strip.  The ending is a bit of an anti-climax when some holographic Doctors just lead to the villain running away!  Inoffensive and inconsequential.

Nothing much to write home about here but as a short story for kids its got a certain level of charm. It absolutely feels like the sort of story Rose would make an offhanded comment about happening offscreen in Boom Town or School Reunion which is really enjoyable to read as one of these shorts.

The couple of times 10 says 'best in the known universe, well, half the unknown universe too' is also just a fun little phrase that I love from the doc.

Overall it's lighthearted fluff and not much more, but that fluff is fun fluff.