O Tannenbaum

"The trees had their revenge."

Writer: Anthony Keetch

Format: Audio

Released: December 2017

Series: Short Trips 7.12

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven

Synopsis

It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid...

The TARDIS has landed in a winter wonderland and the weather outside is frightful.

A world of dread and fear and it's not just the frost that is cruel...

It's Christmas Eve, but will the Doctor and Steven get to see another one?

And of all the trees in the wood, who really bears the crown?

Verdict

O Tannebaum was pretty decent little audio adventure! I like the idea of a Short Trips story focusing on Christmas and especially having that with the First Doctor and Steven because that pairing's status with the festive period have only grown ever time since The Feast of Steven instalment of The Daleks' Master Plan. Unfortunately, what we got here wasn't quite up to the standard of that twelve-part epic but it was still an enjoyable forty-three minutes or so. I liked how the atmosphere and feel of Christmas was established with the description of the charming cottage and the inclusion of a gramophone. Steven mentioning how that reminded him of the Monk's instrument was delightful and very good continuity. The cottage being more of a log cabin was fun and hearing Steven describe it as a fairytale was intriguing because his version of a fairytale was much different from what we might imagine with him being from the future. It was typical to have snow present and I liked that it was so strong to deteriorate vision, with it really just furthering the Christmas feel. I enjoyed learning about Steven's history with Christmas and present gifting with the tale of the holo-prints on Christmas Eve always being last minute a fun insight. The highlight of the entire audio for me was hearing the Doctor utter Nadolig Llawen! Hearing him say Merry Christmas in Welsh was an utter delight and having him using a number of languages to try and communicate with Greta was an awkward introduction to the dirty and gritty character. She just wanted to decorate a Christmas tree, and boy would that prove problematic! There was a stench within the cottage and that came from the elderly man occupying the bed in the form of Herman. He was Greta's grandad as a weird little family dynamic was established with Joseph, the father, having gone out for firewood but not returning overnight. The description of the green darkness was good considering it was afternoon and from out of nowhere we had trees surrounding the cottage. That was great for Christmas, but things seemed to stall from there. Herman was on death's door, but seemed more active than he ought to be. Hearing how Joseph was infected with pine needles gave me Meglos vibes, but I felt nothing really came of it from there. He was becoming one with the office which worked well. Joseph had chopped down the tree for Christmas but that quickly turned into him not fulfilling the family duty as his dad outlined. It cost him in a big way! The Doctor was comical in knowing that the Christmas tree had moved and the trees came slowly to engulf the cottage but it just didn't feel claustrophobic when it should  have done. Herman being frail was not in line with his actions throughout, but I liked how things ended with the Doctor understanding the trees in perhaps an early example of the TARDIS translation circuits. He berated the trees after the family protection over generations was not reciprocated. Overall, this had some fun ideas and a good festive theme but it didn't quite deliver on all fronts. 

Rating: 6/10