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!
Review: Objectively, this is a well crafted, well-acted tale. Subjectively, I’ve overdosed on Big Finish stories with time loops at the center of them. Time loops drove the narratives in “Last of the Cybermen” and The Worlds of Big Finish as well. That said, the themes and character beats made “Suburban Hell” worthwhile. I enjoyed the fact that the Doctor made another of those spare parts contraptions that “goes ding when there’s stuff” and that the contraption played such a pivotal role. I also really appreciated how pop art met Roger Corman’s Masque of the Red Death in the villainess. I’m ready for some different plot mechanisms next month, though.
You can purchase “Suburban Hell” here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/suburban-hell-941
Written By: Alan Barnes
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs
Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela), Annette Badland (Thelma), Katy Wix (Belinda), Alix Dunmore (Penny/Acolyte), Raymond Coulthard (Ralph/Second Acolyte), David Ricardo-Pearce (Pete/Priest).
Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
- Performances, Themes
- Repetitive plotting
- Script8.5
- Performances10
- Audio Production10
