Hothouse (audio story)
Hothouse was the second story in the third series of the Eighth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Jonathan Morris and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller.
It was a sequel to the 1976 Doctor Who television story The Seeds of Doom and the first appearance of the Krynoids since 2002's The Green Man.
Publisher's summary
Somewhere in the south of England stands the Hothouse. Five vast, state-of-the-art biodomes, all steel and glass. Inside, rock star turned environmental activist Alex Marlowe has a plan to save the world from climate change. By any means necessary...
There's something growing inside the Hothouse. Something that could turn back humanity's tide. A voracious alien vegetable called the Krynoid. The Doctor's going to have to stop it. Stop Marlow. Stop Marlow's fanatical acolyte, Lucie Miller...
Save the world. By any means necessary.
Plot
Part One
In the near future, Britain has been suffering from a drought that has occurred for 20 weeks. As a result of the drought, a series of public disturbances has begin, causing the government to announce a national state of emergency and prosecute anyone who is found exceeding their water standpipe rations. One such demonstration calling for action to stop global warming happens in London and it's organized by a group called the League of Nature, led by a former rock star named Alex Marlowe who has adopted a more militant stance. Alex says that the global situation is slowly becoming more extreme and more species have already gone extinct over the last 5 years and that his group are calling for the abolition of private capital and any other moves they believe are required to save the world. He finishes by saying that if action isn't taken immediately, everyone on Earth will be endangered. Another League of Nature member, Lucie Miller, admits that she is more than willing to use intimidation and violence to save the world, even going so far as to say that she isn't just willing to die for it, but to kill for it.
With no sign of any rain in 22 weeks, and water reservoir levels dropping below 5%, water supplies have now been restricted to hospitals only.
The Doctor is being driven to the Hothouse by the World Ecology Bureau's representative, Hazel Bright, who briefs him about a top-secret establishment known as the Hothouse.
Alex Marlowe has begun working in the Hothouse, which is a research facility. Hazel shows the Doctor some aerial photos of the facility. It is in a 10 square kilometer compound and contains five biodome greenhouses. She tells him that Alex Marlowe used to make a name for himself by organizing charity concerts to save endangered species, but he has now retired from music and moved into politics in an attempt to save the world. The Doctor is glad that someone is taking action to save the Earth from global warming, remarking that humans have the most extraordinary capacity for denial and never take responsibility for their actions.
After the incident in Dhaka, the League of Nature's profile has increased dramatically. The Hothouse's money appears to come from the subs of 80 million members who have paid to join the League of Nature. The scientists who work in the facility are in league with GM tech research and the World Ecology Bureau, showing concern about Alex's actions, has contacted UNIT so they can have the Doctor called using the space-time telegraph.
After they arrive at the Hothouse, Hazel tells the Doctor that the reason he was called is because he was highly recommended by Sir Colin Thackeray. At the entrance a guard approaches the car that the Doctor and Hazel are in, prompting the Doctor to introduce himself and tell the guard that he and Hazel are from the World Ecology Bureau. The Head of Administration, Christina Ondrak, arrives to ask why they are here to which Hazel answers that it is a purely random inspection under the St. Petersburg Bio-Protection treaty which allows them to inspect any facility that is used for agricultural research.
The Doctor asks Christina if the inspection will be a problem, to which Christina replies that it won't. She then offers the Doctor and Hazel a brief tour of the Hothouse, adding that visitors must be escorted at all times for their own safety due to some areas of the compound still under construction. Christina leaves to arrange passes for the Doctor and Hazel, leaving them in the care of her assistant, Lucie Miller.
The Doctor seems to recognize Lucie from a news report about the League of Nature's demonstration in London, then asks her how she ended up working in the Hothouse. Lucie dodges the question by asking if she can get them a drink, to which the Doctor answers that he would like an ice tea with a lemon. Hazel would just like some water. As Lucie gets the drinks, the Doctor asks her why there are so many guards around the facility and if they're trying to keep something in or out. Lucie answers that the research is in a delicate state and she has no authority to talk about it.
The Doctor then "unwittingly" spills his drink onto Lucie's skirt, causing her to drop her security pass on the floor. As the Doctor gives Lucie her security pass back, Miss Ondrak returns to tell the Doctor and Hazel to come with her. Watching from his office, Alex Marlowe finds out that the man who spilled his drink onto Lucie's skirt is the famous Doctor that he's heard so much about.
Miss Ondrak leads the Doctor and Hazel into Biodome 1, passing through an airlock as she does so. The purpose of the airlock is to maintain the atmospheric integrity. The biodome contains numerous species of plant which no longer exist anywhere else in the world, and Christina explains that they are conducting research on these plants to find out if they can be used for therapy or sources of nutrition. However, their primary focus is on conservation and they wish to plant new rainforests across the planet.
The Doctor smells ozone, to which Christina explains that they are maintaining an environment that encourages growth in the plants. When the Doctor and Hazel ask to see the other biodomes, Christina tells them that access is restricted due to some of the species being in a vulnerable condition. Noticing that the time is almost 6 o'clock, Christina decides to show the Doctor and Hazel back to reception. On the way, the Doctor asks to see Alex Marlowe, promising that he isn't an autographer, but Christina tells him that he is too busy to see anyone and they'll have to arrange an appointment for another time.
Frustrated that they were shown enough to make them leave and stop asking difficult questions but not enough to answer their questions, the Doctor and Hazel leave the compound. As they return to the car that they arrived in, they figure out that they need someone on the inside.
Lucie Miller informs Christina that she has to answer some emails before she goes home. Christina grants her five minutes but tells her not to stay too long as they don't pay overtime. Once Christina has left, Lucie whips out the security card that the Doctor gave her earlier so he could give her access to all areas of the facility. Activating her hidden microphone, she makes contact with the Doctor who is in the car with Hazel. After briefly chewing him out for ruining her best suit, Lucie begins her investigation of the facility. The Doctor assures Hazel that Lucie is trustworthy and that she volunteered for this mission so she can prove her worth to him once again.
Lucie approaches the airlock for Biodome 4 which is the one that the people who run the Hothouse are the most desperate to keep secret. She uses her pass to enter the dome and, after calling for someone called Dave to check that she's alone, looks around the dome which is less like the rainforest biodome and more like a laboratory. Inside the biodome are a series of objects that resemble green coconuts with veins. The Doctor tells Lucie to get out before she can get killed, but Marlowe appears and holds her at gunpoint. He says to Lucie that he is disappointed that she has betrayed him, remarking that she was very enthusiastic and committed to the cause. Lucie tries to tell him that she was looking for Dave and got lost, but Marlowe doesn't believe her and notices her hidden microphone. He then uses the microphone to contact the Doctor and Miss Bright to tell her that he is holding Lucie at gunpoint and that she has seen too much. He then goes on to say that he has always believed in preserving natural beauty. But in the case of Lucie, it will have to be sacrificed for a higher purpose.
In the car, the Doctor and Hazel hear Lucie scream in terror before the microphone goes dead. Enraged at himself for relying too much on Lucie Miller, the Doctor orders Hazel to drive back to the Hothouse so that he can rescue Lucie. During the drive, the Doctor explains the true nature of Alex Marlowe's research: Krynoids. What Lucie saw in Biodome 4 were Krynoid pods. Hazel is familiar with the Krynoids due to reading the Doctor's file. The Doctor says that if a single one of the pods germinates, every human and animal life form will be dead within hours due to the vegetation fighting back on planets where the Krynoids take root.
He then wonders how Marlowe managed to acquire the pods after he thought they were all wiped out, forcing Hazel to admit that after the incident at Harrison Chase's manor, Sir Colin Thackeray ordered some cuttings to be taken from the Krynoid's remains so they can be studied in an attempt to find new ways to kill them. Unfortunately, a break-in occurred at the bureau five years ago in which the cuttings were taken from the WEB's seed vault and eventually ended up in Alex Marlowe's possession.
Livid, the Doctor states that he needs to get into the Hothouse and that Alex Marlowe doesn't know what he's dealing with. After Hazel tells him that they cannot go in guns blazing through the front entrance, the Doctor tells her to pull over. Despite the Doctor's objections, Hazel insists on going with him so that she can help to stop Alex Marlowe's plans. They then decide to enter the facility through the perimeter fence that surrounds the compound.
When they arrive at the fence, they find out that it is about 12 feet high and there is a huge amount of security on the other side. With the Sonic Screwdriver unable to cut through wire, the Doctor and Hazel have no choice but to wait for the container trucks to arrive and unload some more supplies for the Hothouse. The Doctor believes that they are delivering the supplies at night to avoid spectators. They both climb inside of the nearest one and soon find out that they are not the only ones who are inside the containers.
Marlowe watches from his office as the Doctor and Hazel manage to smuggle themselves into the facility like common criminals. He remarks that it's touching how the Doctor thinks that he's coming to rescue Lucie.
Part Two
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Paul McGann
- Lucie Miller - Sheridan Smith
- Alex Marlowe - Nigel Planer
- Hazel Bright - Lysette Anthony
- Christina Ondrak - Adna Sablyich
- Stefan Radek - Stuart Crossman
- Newsreader - Barnaby Edwards
Crew
- Cover Art - Simon Holub
- Director - Barnaby Edwards
- Executive Producers - Nicholas Briggs and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Martin Johnson
- Producers - Barnaby Edwards and David Richardson
- Script Editor - Alan Barnes
- Writer - Jonathan Morris
References
- Britain's water reservoir levels are below 5%. Water is restricted to hospitals only.
- Hazel was present during a flood in Dhaka.
Governments
- The Eurozone has closed its borders.
Organisations
- Hazel Bright is part of the World Ecology Bureau.
- Hazel contacted UNIT to use the space-time telegraph to contact the Doctor.
- Alex Marlowe runs the League of Nature, an extremist ecology group.
Species
- Krynoids are affected by high pitched noises.
Notes
- Krynoids have previously featured on audio in two BBV Productions audio dramas: The Root of All Evil and The Green Man. However, this is their first appearance in a Big Finish audio drama.
- This audio drama was recorded on 13 September 2008 at the Moat Studios.
- The story was initially released as a download on the Big Finish website on 21 and 28 March 2009.
Continuity
- The Doctor is still recovering from the six hundred years he spent on Orbis during AUDIO: Orbis [+]Loading...["Orbis (audio story)"]
- The World Ecology Bureau has files on the Harrison Chase incident and the Doctor's involvement in that incident, which occured during TV: The Seeds of Doom)
- The space-time telegraph was first referred to in TV: Revenge of the Cybermen and was briefly seen in TV: Terror of the Zygons.
- The Eurozone is mentioned. (PROSE: Trading Futures, AUDIO: The Time of the Daleks)
- By 2060, the Amazon ecosystem had collapsed and the rainforests had turned to desert. (AUDIO: Loups-Garoux)
External links
- Official Hothouse page at bigfinish.com
- Hothouse at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- DisContinuity for Hothouse at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
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