The Stuff of Nightmares: The House That Hoxx Built

"By restoring the house... you've restored its ghosts as well."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: July 2022

Series: Classic Doctors, New Monsters 3.01

Featuring: Third Doctor, Sarah Jane

Synopsis

When the Third Doctor and Sarah journey far into the future of Earth, the last thing they expect to find on the planet is a haunted house!

Invited to dinner by the Hoxx of Balhoon and his ovine ward, the TARDIS travellers experience strange and disturbing phenomena, and the Doctor is determined to discover the cause...

Verdict

The House That Hoxx Built was a great story to kick off the brand new third series of Classic Doctors, New Monsters! I have long been waiting for a return of this range and I can't quite believe it's been five years! It's such a wonderful idea and there really is an abundance of potential to mix Doctors of old with monsters of new. This was an intriguing and unique place to start as I don't think the Balhoon was high on the fantasy list of nominations for fans dreaming up combinations that could exist in this range, but it works well and it's a strangely brilliant dynamic to mix them with the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane. I was so happy to be listening to a new story with this TARDIS pairing and having Tim Treloar and Sadie Miller playing the roles respectively was done very well. They did justice and beyond for the characters and their chemistry was really strong. It was an easy listen. The humour that came from the Doctor being the one to have to work in the kitchens was terrific and a dynamic of presenting men as inferior that ought to be utilised more often considering the depth of places Doctor Who visits! I did enjoy that the setting was extremely far into the future which played in well with The End of the World and it made for a very unique setting for the Classic era. The titular house made for a strong setting and I loved the concept that adorns my quote with the recreation of an old house also bringing back the spirits and ghosts that haunted it. I really liked that. The house was said to be the most haunted place on the entire planet which gave it some credibility, something Sarah almost immediately lost on their arrival when nearly blurting out she was from Earth. The tackling of publicity versus disturbance for Hoxx when it came to promoting the house commercially was a great dilemma and I really loved the protective relationship he had with Francesca. The familial connection between them was nice to hear. The fact that we had a butler called Butler was amusing and I thought it was fun for him to be a digihuman that glitched. It made for a unique conversation for sure! The idea of the house actually being the Earth's tomb was unexpected but one I really appreciated, and it seemed to sadden the Doctor who had a bond to the planet – even when he didn't want to during his exile! I liked the placement of this episode being very close to Planet of the Spiders as the Doctor felt that his time was coming soon which was rather eery! Francesca being held below and the culprit being the Butler was fun and I enjoyed how the Doctor knew that all along. The reveal of the Benighted as creatures of the molten tide worked well and I liked how they were living in the planet's core, something that seemed impossible! The explanation of their frequencies asking for help being the paranormal activity because they couldn't be interpreted was brilliant and it was a simple resolution in the end with the Doctor freeing them from the core and setting them on the way. Overall, an intriguing and fun way to kick off the series! 

Rating: 8/10