Doctor Who: Human Resources, Part Two

The Eighth Doctor Adventures #1.8

by Eddie Robson

Lucie Miller's been headhunted to join the staff of Hulbert Logistics, a respectable blue-chip firm in Telford. Great prospects, competitive salary - you don't have to be mad to work here! But wasn't she made for better things, like travelling by TARDIS through time and space? The Doctor, meanwhile, has been fired - into a confrontation with the most terrifying of enemies...

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Time Travel, Fiction, Media Tie In, British Literature

Audio CD

First published August 6, 2007

About the author

Eddie Robson is a comedy and science fiction writer best known for his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully and his work on a variety of spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who. He has written books, comics and short stories, and has worked as a freelance journalist for various science fiction magazines. He is married to a female academic and lives in Lancaster.

Robson's comedy writing career began in 2008 with material for Look Away Now. Since then his work has featured on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Tilt, Play and Record, Newsjack, Recorded For Training Purposes and The Headset Set. The pilot episode of his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 5th July 2012. It starred Katherine Parkinson and Julian Rhind-Tutt.

His Doctor Who work includes the BBC 7 radio plays Phobos, Human Resources and Grand Theft Cosmos, the CD releases Memory Lane, The Condemned, The Raincloud Man and The Eight Truths, and several short stories for Big Finish's Doctor Who anthologies, Short Trips. He has contributed comic strips to Doctor Who Adventures.

Between 2007 and 2009, Robson was the producer of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of products, and has contributed four audio plays to the series. He has also written books on film noir and the Coen Brothers for Virgin Publishing, the Doctor Who episode guide Who's Next with co-authors Mark Clapham and Jim Smith, and an illustrated adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of me wished they kept that plot twist for Karen and still kept it for Lucie. It would have been similar to Ruth from Bernice Summerfield, off sorts but over all, great part 2 :)

8 and Lucie are great together, and the sass the two have is wonderful.

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 52 Book Challenge - 44) Celebrity On The Cover

This was such a good second part. I loved the plot, I loved the characterisation, I loved the interaction between the Doctor and Lucie, I think they're great together.

The only problem I had with this audiobook is that it was very hard to understand what the Cybermen were saying, so I ended up missing some parts of the plot.

[Lady Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor was so badass in this! Loved it. The conversation he had with the Cybermen was just *chef’s kiss*

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was much better than part 1 imo absolutely brilliant story

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a very good cap to a mixed season. and I mean, it's Doctor Who, the TV show is rarely super consistent in terms of quality, so why should the radio version be either? the one-off episodes never really worked as well as they should've, but the two parters made up for them. I like the characters, and while a little dated, the sound design really makes you feel like you're listening to a version of the TV show that happens to have as big a budget as you can imagine.

I think, unless I splurge for my birthday, that I'm not going to listen to the next season for a while. I listened to this through hoopla, and they (along with Spotify) have more than enough of the other 'ranges' to keep me occupied. Maybe I'll listen to some of Eight's earlier stories next.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a season finale this isn't bad at all; a story featuring cybermen, the Doctor being badass, Timelords being devious and the unforgettable Lucie Miller being her exuberant sarky self.

I just found the story a bit of an anti-climax after the blindingly good part one. I love the Timelord politics but found the rest a little rushed, particularly the defeat of the cybermen. Also I found the cybermen's dialogue a little hard to decipher in places. The pace isn't as good on this half either - great chunks of exposition and then action. The whole series has been gearing up to the revelation of just why Lucie was in Timelord protective custody and to discover it was a case of mistaken identity is a bit of a damp squib.

Other than that though this is pretty good. Highlight is probably the Doctor's conversations with the cybermen: the scene where he claims to always champion the underdog, but will make an exception in the case of the cybermen, is pure Who gold. The writing on this one is really good. Voice cast and production values are top notch. Katarina Olsen really comes into her own as the Headhunter - Going off with Karen at the end leaves the perfect opportunity for a spin-off series or fodder for fanfiction - I for one would love to see what they get up to. Its also a nice resolution to the Doctor/Lucie relationship. They kind of hated each other at first, thrown together through the machinations of the Timelords. But by this episode there's a sort of mutual respect and they can choose to be companions, or not...

Over all I've been hugely impressed with the 8th Doctor Adventures, they're among the best Who audios out there and even the weaker ones have kept my attention.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a quick resolution, but this is a good story.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting this one to be better than what it actually was. Overall this two-part story was fine, a bit boring at the start, the cybermen were fun and it was nice to see 8 and Lucie continue travelling together. I just don't find much to talk about here.

[Melody Soundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic and twisted conclusion to Human Resources as well as the perfect conclusion to the first season of The 8th Doctor Adventures.

After listening to part 1 I had high expectations and part 2 definitely lived to them and infact went beyond. The Cybermen are used perfectly here as well as the Timelords and The Headhunter. I was absolutely mindblown at the sustained quality and rising stakes. Its my favourite kind of twisted story where its all a game of chess and you don't know what's gonna happen. If you enjoyed Part 1 your brain will be absolutely fried over the amazing quality of Part 2. Eddie Robson has learned the right lessons from Phobos and created the ultimate Cyberman story. It gets me excited to listen to Spare Parts eventually.

I feared that this story would suffer from being a two parter this part really does stand out on its own. Although Part 1 sets up the conflict this shows the true chaos and desires of Human Resources, Part 2 is about what happens when the Cybermen lose control and want it back. Instead of being split into two parts hindering the story it actually helped it. The Cybermen absolutely did not belong in Part 1 and they were put to fantastic use here and still scary on audio thanks to the incredible performance of Nicholas Briggs. Because of it, the story doesn't have any weaknesses in my opinion, it's really strong.

There's so many things I could praise about this story but I'm gonna do my best to pick out the highlights in my opinion.

First I have to praise the incredible writing from Eddie Robson regarding character arcs. Not only does he respect what the other writers on the series have written but also throughly flesh out Lucie and The Doctors character arc throughout the season. We get Lucie and The Doctor at their best here and see well listen to how much they have grown. Don't want to spoil but once the major twists and plot threads from the season are revealed it gives Lucie and The Doctor good moments to shine. Lucie also gets her moment to save the day whilst The Doctor gets his. Robsons writing helps the tardis team shine both whilst they're separated and together. A really good tardis team strengthened by this finale.

Secondly I have to praise the incredible villians. The Cybermen were portrayed perfectly on audio and super menacing. They raised the stakes and had an interesting twist towards their motivation for attacking Hulbert and his clients building. The Cybermen are another villian that after Season 10 have been quite dirty on the screen and this story actually makes them menacing again as well as soley independent. They're also not reduced to a laughing stock which makes an absolute change. Instead of being a spectacle the Cybermen are incopeared into the story in a creative way. The timelords may not be a main villian but they're presence does create tension and cause disruption for the character. We get to understand how harmful their conflicts are even before the time war. The Headhunter whilst being a reluctant ally is also a very interesting morally grey character and the discovery of who she is, is very interesting. Every character adds a lot to the story.

Finally I have to praise the incredible sound design. Gareth Jenkins and Andy Hardwick truly create the ultimate team of sound designer and composer. It was an absolute delight to listen to in my ear and really amplified the story especially all the heavy action. Due to all the sound effects and beautiful score I was able to find myself fully immersed. All the hard-core sound effects gave me goosebumps and helped me picture a sci-fi office being under seige from Cybermen. If it wasn't for the incredible sound design it wouldn't have felt as immersive. The sound design is done so well that it helps you escape and visualise what's happening on your own. The quality is great and I can only imagine what Big Finish's current releases sound like. So put in your headphones and relax as the sound will immerse you as if your watching a TV episode.

Overall a fantastic audio drama to conclude the first series of the 8th Doctor Adventures and a terrifyingly perfect Cybermen story. The Doctor and Lucie really get to shine and the performances are wonderful. Highly recommend checking out, along with Part 1.

The whole first series of the 8th Doctor Adventures are free on Spotify and I absolutely recommend checking them out for yourself.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

戦闘ロボットのオペレート要員を供給する会社にサイバーマンが姿を現す。さらにルーシーは将来恐ろしいファシストになるのでそうならないようタイムロードが時間軸を操り最善を選び出すというクリスタルボール（？）というツールを使っていたという。

実はタイムロードが時間軸を操っていたのはルーシーと同じ日に面接したカレンの方だったと判明。
しかし実際はサイバーマンが必ず負ける時間軸を選び出すように設定されていたという。
ドクターがうまく解決してくれたけれども、タイムロードも結局自分のテクノロジーを扱いきててないんだなぁと。

[Rob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cybermen return in this final installment in the series, with their great voices proving ample cover for the lack of visuals. Again, as per part one, this feels like it could be a great episode of the 00's incarnation.

[H.K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good installment and ending. Enjoyable.

[Jonathan Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 2 of the Eighth Doctor and his companion Lucy fighting Cybermen

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the playful interaction between Lucie and The Doctor at the end.

[Áine Ní Néill · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really really enjoyed this series, and this final two parter was simply wonderful.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great end to series one of Eight and Lucie's adventures.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fitting end to the first series of Eighth Doctor and Lucie adventures.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent ending to the first series - if I was to include the first part in my rating, that is, but since this story is split in two... this is the slightly weaker part.

[elise barber-wixtrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

mondassian cybermen? big finish passing the bechdel test? a silly man making stupid decisions? anticapitalist doctor who?????

[SuperPiggy5000 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a step down from the first part, but still enjoyable

3.5/5

[Mike Rempel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul McGann
full cast
big finish
Spotify
very good story

[Finlay O'Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfectly balanced story which acts well as both a Cyberman tale but in equal measure provides a satisfying conclusion to the Headhunter and the mystery around what the Time Lords want with Lucie.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfying ending to a mediocre season overall. Great way to end the season and keep me hooked for what is to come.

[Samael Kovacs · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ending for the first series of Lucie and The Doctor.
It may be to early to tell but these two may become my favorite Tardis team.

Story was great, Lucie got some amazing moments.
Love all reveals.
Cyberman were scary.

I have nothing bad to say about this story, well other then the fact that's its better then part one.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irgendwass stimmt definitiv nicht bei Hulbert Logistics in Telford. Der Doktor hat dort nun auch einen Job und eines ist sowas von klar: Das ist keine normale Büroarbeit.
Wirklich dumm, dass Lucie und ihre ebenfalls neue Kollegin anscheinend einen Fehler bei der Dateneingabe gemacht haben, und gefeuert werden und zwar durch die Luftschleuse. Sie finden sich auf einem fremden Planeten wieder und bekommen Hilfe von einem entlassenen Abteilungleiter. Human Resources hingegen ist extrem sauer, weil die so schwer angeheuerte Lucie Miller einfach von ihrem Vorgesetzten gefeuert wurde, ohne Rücksprache mit dem Management.

Hier nun die Fortsetzung von Human resources 2. Büroarbeit ist mörderisch, besonders für die Bewohner unterentwickelter Planeten, die von Spezies, die ihren Planeten bereits ruiniert haben als überflüssig angesehen werden. Dazu noch Timelords, die sich überall einmischen und Lucie Miller so richtig sauer machen. War es wirklich eine Verwechslung? Da ich derzeitig ja die Hörspiele dieser Serie eher kreuz und quer höre, vermute ich, es war keine Verwechslung, besonders, wenn man das Ende der vierten Staffel bedenkt (ja ich habe mit dem Schluss der Serie begonnen, das war nicht intelligent, aber die Hörspiele sind so vielfältig und es ist keine wirklich sinnvolle Übersicht auf der BBC Radio 4 Seite zu finden, in welche Reihenfolge die gehören).
Insgesamt ist das Hörspiel, ohne Vorkenntnisse des Doktor Who Universums, eine Persiflage auf das Büroleben. Schon traurig, dass Leute, die einen Job in London bekommen, letztendlich wohl so wenig Zeit haben, dass sie den Kontakt zu ihren Freunden verlieren. Dass die Büroarbeit sie so auffrisst, dass keinem auffällt, ob sie nach Hause gehen oder nicht, ob es Tag oder Nacht ist und ob jemand auf einen fremden Planeten entführt wurde.
Ja es stimmt, es werden eher Angestellte gesucht, die ohne zu fragen, fehlerlos Befehle verfolgen, als Leute, die verstehen wollen und müssen, was sie tun. Den meisten Menschen wäre wirklich egal, ob ihre XLS Tabellen einen Roboter steuern, solange die Hierarchie im Büro gewahrt bleibt und der Kaffee heiß ist.
Gruseliger Blick auf unsere heutige Arbeitswelt in der nicht wir die Roboter steuern, sondern selber die gesteuerten Roboter sind.

Insgesamt ein typisches BBC Hörspiel mit top Sprechern und super Soundkulisse und ohne nervigen Soundtrack, der im Hintergrund dudelt. Prinzipiell hätten beide Folgen des Hörspiels auf eine CD gepasst, aber das Sendeformat der 7th dimension, wo diese Hörspiele meist laufen ist eben 57 min. Daher hat man das Hörspiel auf zwei Folgen gesplittet.

Fazit: Das erste Doktor Who Hörspiel, dass mir auch ohne 50 Jahre Serienvorkenntnisse wirklich gut gefällt, vor allem, wegen des schrägen Humors und der gepfefferten Dosis humorvoll verpackter Sozialkritik. Warum auf seinen Planeten achten, man erobert sich einfach einen neuen und entfernt die alten Bewohner. So scheint die neoliberale Ideologie heutzutage tatsächlich zu argumentieren und macht damit Menschen zu Robotern.

[Devin Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a lot better than the first part, it was just really entertaining and the mystery behind Lucy gets explained in a rather strange way. Lots of foreshadowing in the ending, can't wait to see if they're going to go with it in the future seasons and I am really loving the Lucie/Eight TARDIS team (Lucie actually reminds me a bit like a younger Donna Noble and i'm really loving it). The cybermen were very interesting in this and all of the characters were just very interesting and well-done. I was worried after the first part that they had such a strong idea for a story but that it would go nowhere, but I was proved wrong when I finished the second part. Definitely worth listening to!

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

By this point I'm assuming you've listened to part 1, so read at your own risk.

So was it just me, or was it a little difficult to understand the cybermen when they spoke? I found them difficult to understand, and sometimes had to listen more than once to make out certain things.

It's great to finally see some sort of resolution to the headhunter arc. Any longer and I feel it would have been dragging on. However, I do feel that she was being set up for a repeat appearance. Anyone else think the same?

Maybe it's just me, but I noticed a Scooby-Doo reference. Basically the "I'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids" sort of thing, which I found WAY too funny for what it was.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the first season and half of The Eight Doctor & Lucie Miller incredibly close together and back to back, so all of them are going to end up with the same review for the moment while I'm fixing up my forgotten rec's and clearing out my Currently Reading Folder (which shouldn't be 40+ books, it should be somewhere relatively close to right under ten).

I have loved meeting Eight, and his resigned but inspirational way of being. I love Lucy's moxy, and her mouth. Her mouth may be the best thing on the planet. Even though I know the episodes are roughly the same length as tv episodes, from single one hours to double-extended two hours, somehow they end up feeling like bite-size, leaving me wanting just a little more from every single one.

[Nicholas Whyte]

Given the parallels between The Runaway Bride and Blood of the Daleks, I wasn't surprised when the office environment where Lucie was meant to be all along turned out to be a front for an alien plot. But actually it turns out to be an Ender's Game scenario, with added Cybermen and feuding Time Lord factions, and a nearly convincing resolution to the storyline of the Head-Hunter. Sheridan Smith gets some very good moments as Lucie, realising the extent to which she has been manipulated by the Time Lords and others. A fair enough conclusion.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hubert agrees to work with the Cybermen, against the Doctor's advice. The Doctor learns that these Cybermen are an earlier version of the Cybermen he will encounter on Telos, having not recognised the name of the planet. Lucie and the ex-employees meet the Headhunter, who explains she was hired by Hubert to track Lucie down in case a rival company was trying to reverse-engineer his brainwashing techniques. As she has no desire to see the Cybermen win, she agrees to help them.