Big Finish Doctor Who/Recap/054 The Natural History of Fear

""This is the voice Light City. Welcome to your new work day.""

The Doctor, Charlie and C'rizz land in Light City, a bright, clean city that uses mind erasure to ensure that its inhabitants don't cause trouble. The trio arrive in the middle of Jubilee, the one day of the year citizens are allowed to ask questions. When they're swept up by the crowd and captured, the Doctor makes a bargain with the Mayor to save his companions. And...it gets infinitely weirder and darker from there.

Tropes

 * Ascetic Aesthetic
 * Big Brother Is Watching
 * Chekhov's Gun: The spinning top.
 * Dystopia
 * Happiness Is Mandatory: "Happiness through acceptance, productivity through happiness."
 * Homage: The whole thing is a homage to the concepts explored in Dark City.
 * In Medias Res
 * Language Equals Thought
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia
 * Light Is Not Good
 * Painting the Medium: and done beautifully.
 * Mind Rape
 * Mind Screw
 * Mind Wipe
 * Released to Elsewhere: "going on holiday" does not mean what it means. You don't die, though, you just get mindwiped.
 * Show Within a Show: There's a version of Doctor Who in this story.
 * Shout-Out: The memory-erasing faction is called Ministry of Tourism.
 * Wham! Line: "Eight, of course!"
 * Wham! Line: "Eight, of course!"
 * Wham! Line: "Eight, of course!"