"Doctor Who": The Hounds of Artemis: (Audio Original) (BBC Audio) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

I quite like audio books, so was quite looking forward to this Doctor Who one as I also like the TV series. The story kicks off quite well, and takes the format of two views - one from the Doctor & Amy, the other from Helen Stapleton (who is the main "guest" in the story). I was expecting
the two voice artists to take the male and female roles, so was a bit surprised at Matt Smith reading Amy Pond's lines but it didn't detract from the story and it actually worked quite well. Both the narrators capture the Scottish lilt of Amy's accent which adds to the tale.

Without giving any spoilers, the story is well written and the atmosphere is helped by good sound effect and descriptions. In many ways it reminded me of the classic Doctor Who tale - The Pyramids Of Mars. The Hounds of Artemis is quite short at just over an hour long (24 chapters) which was a small disappointment after listening to the Harry Potter audio books, but in fairness this CD is more of an episode than an epic.

Overall it was a good listen and I'll be looking at more of these in the future as it was a well produced and entertaining story that helped the car journey whizz by

"Artemis will enjoy watching your companions tear you apart!"

Since the popularity of the Doctor's latest three incarnations moved the emphasis on Whovian audio adventures from the Big Finish stories to ones generated in-house, there's been a noticeable drop in quality that's taken a long time to address. Too many of the recent David Tennant and Matt Smith Doctor audio adventures seemed like substandard stories designed solely to part hungry fans from their money between DVD sets secure in the knowledge that anything who had a guaranteed market. Even Tom Baker's return to the fold teased more than it delivered. So it's a genuine surprise to come across a NuWho audio adventure that's not only good but very good - and good enough to make a two-parter on TV for once at that.

It's a classic gothic period piece, with the Doctor and Amy being discovered inside a newly opened tomb in Smyrna in the 1920s. Naturally there's a curse that's seeing firs the local labourers being picked off and later members of the expedition, and of course the ancient evil - in this case the parasitic `goddess' Artemis - is of alien origin. While Artemis herself isn't a million miles removed from the Weeping Angels or the Silver Nemesis the story has been well thought through, offering thrills, chills, a few laughs and some wry observations on human nature - and a name check for Fish Custard - along the way. And that thought has extended to the presentation, with the narration shifting from Matt Smith in Doctor mode to Clare Corbett as a descendant of one of the ill-fated archaeologists reading Amy Pond's diary (it helps that Corbett can do a fair impersonation of Karen Gillan, something no previous narrator has managed). It's an old literary device that works particularly well in widening the scope and keeping things fresh here, making the telling as appealing as the story. It may be too early to tell if this is a sign of better things to come, but even if it's just a one-off burst of quality it's a very welcome and enjoyable one.

Not a bad story overall; a short drama on Amy Pond's found diary. It's a shame that there are only the two actors doing all the voices as it does tend to sound a little samey, which is a shame with an audio-only item, but if you like Dr Who as I (and my son do) then this will fill an hour quite easily.