Doctor Who: The Gemini Contagion
Doctor Who: The Gemini Contagion – Written by Jason Arnopp & Read By Meera Syal – CD / Download (AudioGo www.audiogo.co.uk) I’ve got a sneaking suspicion, after listening to both ‘The Deadly Download’ and ‘The Gemini Contagion’ that Jason Arnopp (I’mold enough to remember Mr. Arnopp from his days as music journalist at Kerrang – back when the magazine actually mattered and featured bands and music that you wanted to read about) is a fan of 1950’s science fiction films and fiction, loves old horror movies and if asked who his favourite directors were, the names David Cronenberg and John Carpenter would feature somewhere in his list. That’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s just the opposite, it’s the perfect background for any Doctor Who writer, and Arnopp has taken what he knows and crafted another pretty good tale in ‘The Gemini Contagion’. The story centres on a new hand-wash that supposedly destroys all viruses and enables the users to understand any and all galactic languages, however, thanks to a secret ingredient, as well as destroying all known viruses, it also contains a virus, that spreads amongst humans, turning them into raving creatures whose determination to communicate with any and everyone ensures that the virus begins to spread, and Earth is only a destination away. For the most part, it’s tightly written well executed story, that also drags aliens, cloning and big business into it’s plot, although, if like me, you were raised on Science Fiction classics (Greetings Herbert George), you’ll be able to spot the how everything will end during the first half of the story and how the Doctor will ultimately save the day. Which he does. In exactly the way I thought he would. The clues are there, you just have to know where they are. It’s a classic Sci-Fi ending, and nice to see it being used in Doctor Who, and whilst Myra Syal’s reading is entertaining and absorbing, her Welsh accent, adopted for one of the characters, leaves a lot to be desired, and like cabbage, should be avoided at all costs. On the whole though, ‘The Gemini Contagion’ is the perfect way to spend a couple of hours before the new series starts. Just make sure you use the soap and not the gel next time you wash your hands, after all, you never know what might happen, or what it might contain… Tim Mass Movement
