Pest Control (audio story)
Pest Control is a made-for-audio Tenth Doctor story, written by Peter Anghelides and produced for BBC Audio, with a release occurring in the spring of 2008.
Read by David Tennant, the story is released under the same format as the BBC Books Tenth Doctor Adventures book series and their associated audio book adaptations, but was released exclusively to audio. The story features the character of Donna Noble, who makes her first BBC Books appearance in Pest Control, months prior to the release of her first adventures in print.
Publisher's Summary
The Doctor and Donna face monstrous insects and a ruthless robot exterminator in this thrilling, exclusive audio story, read by David Tennant. The TARDIS is lost in battle on a distant planet. When the Doctor sets off in pursuit, Donna is left behind, and finds herself accepting a commission in the Pioneer Corps. Something is transforming soldiers into monstrous beetles, and she could be the next victim. Meanwhile, the Doctor steals a motorbike and stages a jailbreak. Well, how hard can it be to find the TARDIS, rescue Donna, and negotiate a peace? But that's before the arrival of a brutal and remorseless mechanical exterminator, bent on wiping out the insects. It may be that nothing can stop it, because this robot's solution for the infestation is very simple: kill everything.
References
- The Doctor and Donna briefly adopt the aliaes of Dr. McCoy and Captain Kirk, respectively, among several other references to Star Trek. The Ninth Doctor was briefly dubbed Mr. Spock in DW: The Empty Child.
- The Doctor knows the sport of free running, and it's indicated that he was taught the extreme sport in the 1980s by its foremost innovator, Sebastien Foucan. However, the date given is likely incorrect as Foucan was only born in 1974 and did not rise to fame with free running until the 1990s. "Sébastien developed his skills though childhood play" [1] so the Doctor could have met him before he "rose to fame".
- The Doctor is described as riding a motorbike-like vehicle; he also rode a motorbike in The Idiot's Lantern.
- Donna refers to one of the centaurs by the name Firenze -- the name of one of the centaurs in the Harry Potter universe. The Shakespeare Code also includes several Potter references.
Timeline
- Frayed occurs after: DW: Planet of the Ood
- Frayed occurs before: DW: The Sontaran Stratagem
Continuity
- There is nothing overt to suggest where during Donna's travels with the Doctor this takes place. Presumably it takes place prior to Turn Left and probably after Planet of the Ood as that episode detailed Donna's first visit to another planet. Donna also thinks about all the death she's seen and asks if it has hardened her, suggesting she has been travelling with the Doctor for awhile.
- The Doctor and Donna once again are forced to reiterate that they are not a couple, as they do frequently in the TV series proper.
- The Doctor references Donna's "extensive wardrobe", a reference to the copious amount of baggage she initially brought with her (DW: Partners in Crime).
Behind the scenes
- The liner notes erroneously credit Murray Gold with composing the Doctor Who theme music, instead of Ron Grainer; although Pest Control clearly takes place after the events of Partners in Crime, Gold's theme arrangement from the 2005-2007 seasons is used instead of the 2008 season arrangement.
