Suburban Hell

"Breath in her cruelty."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: May 2015

Series: FDA 4.05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

Somewhere in a suburb of North London, there's a crisis. More than a crisis, a positive disaster: Belinda and Ralph are expecting four for supper, and there's no Marie Rose sauce for the Prawns Marie Rose. All in all, the evening couldn't possibly get any worse...

Until the doorbell rings, bringing the Doctor and Leela to the dinner party. They've got a crisis, too – temporal ruckage has sent the TARDIS to another time zone entirely. Meaning they might have to endure a whole evening in Belinda's company.

But the Doctor and Leela aren't the only uninvited guests tonight. There's a strange fog falling, out in the road. And in that fog: savage blue-skinned monsters, with dinner party plans of their own. Because it's not Prawns Marie Rose on their menu – it's people!

Verdict

Suburban Hell was a decent Fourth Doctor Adventures audio! The synopsis intrigued me right from the off because it sounded quite barmy and would work well for this pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Leela. Starting out with Belinda being unhappy that Ralph didn't bring her mayonnaise for the Marie Rose sauce was amusing and then having the Doctor and Leela at the door was an expected but fun development. Thelma coming round as the neighbour with some salad cream to help with the sauce was equally comic and then learning about the temporal ruckage that had seen the Doctor and Leela separated in time from the TARDIS was great. I always like the jeopardy presented from the Doctor and his trusty time and space machine being apart as it creates a lot of vulnerability from our hero, but I never really felt that worry here. The mystery of what happened to the Hopkins family was good and I liked that they had gone missing and left their entire belongings and house. Mike, the estate agent that Ralph had invited round to the dinner which didn't please Belinda, was very quiet and hush hush about the family and just wanted to facilitate the quick sale to the pair who were now hosting the party. Belinda mistaking the pleas she was getting on the telephone as prank calls was a shock, especially given the revelation later in the episode that they were actually the calls from the past of themselves! I didn't see that coming but it worked nicely. The twist that it was the TARDIS that was in the 1970s and the Doctor and Leela that were in the 2010s was fun with the decor of the Hopkins house having been untouched for four decades. Thelma insinuating that the house had rejected several other would-be owners for decades was good and I liked how Leela wasn't against the house having feelings. The fog being how humanity could perceive the temporal instability wasn't something I overly liked and it seemed a little like forcing the atmosphere, but Mike's disappearance being the result of a creature and not a crash was vert good. He was dragged from within. The journey back through time for the Doctor was fun but a little unclear of exactly what was happening, but it did work well to have him encounter the creatures at the Hopkins residence in the 1970s. Thelma also being in that decade and not being a day younger was fun and from there, I wasn't a huge fan of the truth and how the Monosarans were searching for a vessel. They were a decent enemy and the idea of mutant essence in a painting was certainly unique, and they wanted Belinda to host. Their acolytes arriving was very good and Thelma being against them was good. Her casting a spell on the mirror to allow the Doctor to communicate to Leela and co through time was fantastic and the whole basis of the seven humours to absorb the essence was intriguing but probably a little overkill. Peter being in league with the creatures was good but not exactly surprising, and suggesting the Doctor was eaten was great! If only it lasted longer. The discovery that the temporal ruckage was the Doctor's doing from the past with his echoing rather than tracking the leak was terrific. The Doctor could simply turn off the contraption and rewrite the future with Leela at the modern day party with Belinda and Penny, but they weren't aware of what had happened! Overall, a good audio that was certainly fun despite some little flaws.

Rating: 7/10