Doctor Who Review: ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures: Hothouse’ (Audio)
By James Aggas
Doctor Who review: After living centuries on an alien world, the Doctor is back on Earth. But is he prepared to face an old enemy when the Krynoids return?
The Seeds of Doom is an incredibly popular serial from the mid-seventies. It features a lot of what makes that era so strong. There are great monsters, brilliant villains, strong horror, and a surprisingly high amount of violence. So it’s not surprising that Big Finish attempted to make a direct sequel to it.
Hothouse, at just two episodes, is roughly a third of the length of the original story. Unsurprisingly, it features a much faster pace. This is best represented by the Krynoids. In the original story, someone would be infected by one of their seeds, slowly transforming them over a number of days, at most.
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In Hothouse, however, the transformation is even more rapid. This not only allows for a different take on the Krynoids, but also matches the faster pace of the New Series.
Nigel Planer, generally thought of as a comedy actor in Britain, is great to listen to as the villain, Alex Marlowe. A retired rock star, he’s someone who believes that planet Earth needs to be saved, by any means necessary.
Unfortunately, he’s adopted some rather extreme methods to do that. Including trying to use the Krynoids for his own ends. Planer gives a very good, very straight performance, and it’s interesting hearing him perform against type.
Rediscovering humanity
However, I think the strongest aspect of the story is how it focuses on the Doctor, particularly after the events of Orbis. This is the first time he’s been on Earth in centuries. As such, he’s a lot more cynical about humanity than he used to be. He knows he used to love humans, but when he sees how they treat each other and their own planet in this story, he’s constantly forced to ask himself why.
It’s an interesting direction to take McGann’s Doctor in. It’s also great that a story as big as Orbis has very large and very clear consequences for his character, rather than being completely ignored in following stories.
It should also be mentioned that Hothouse features some rather nasty moments of violence. The kind of violence that makes you feel glad it’s only audio. One moment involving a chainsaw feels particularly grisly.
Next: Review: ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures: Orbis’ (Audio)
Oddly enough, however, it never feels too “adult” like some of the earlier Eight Doctor audios did. (Minuet in Hell, I’m looking at you.) Tone wise, it still feels just right for the audience its aiming for. Exactly right, in fact. Hothouse may push its boundaries in terms of horror, but it never exceeds them.
Hothouse isn’t quite up to the exceptionally high standard that we got with The Seeds of Doom, but it is another enjoyable story for the Eighth Doctor and Lucie.