The House That Hoxx Built (audio story)

The House That Hoxx Built was the first story in the audio anthology The Stuff of Nightmares, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Tim Foley and featured Tim Treloar as the Third Doctor and Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith.

Publisher's summary
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...

Plot
Whilst Francesca is in the attic, the Hoxx of Balhoon and Butler begin a search of the rest of the house for their ghost, although not before the Hoxx decides to make himself a sandwich.

The Doctor and Sarah arrive on a stormy Earth in the far future and, using an umbrella with a question mark handle, they explore the seemingly empty planet before spotting an old priory in the valley. The door is answered by Butler, a Digihuman malfunctioning due to the humidity, who invites them in and introduces them to the Hoxx. Due to the time period, the Doctor claims that he and Sarah are from Earnest.

The Hoxx tells the Doctor and Sarah that the house is a recreation of one from the second millennium and will one day be a museum. Francesca is able to convince the Hoxx to allow them to stay and shows Sarah around the house whilst the Doctor cuts vegetables with the Hoxx and discusses Galactic Heritage's conservation efforts. Butler suddenly disappears from the kitchen and reappears with Sarah and Francesca, although he does not know why and returns on foot. Francesca tells Sarah about the ghost and, whilst she refuses to return to the locked attic, she agrees to tell her the details later on.

At dinner, the Hoxx reluctantly tells the Doctor and Sarah about Lady Pendle, a trustee who came to survey the house and, during a power cut, was terrified by something and did not say anything for the rest of her stay. Whatever she saw made her spines turn white. The Doctor suggests that they check the attic, but the Hoxx refuses to do so during the night and indicates that, in restoring the house, they have restored the ghosts of the old priory. Later, the Doctor meets with Hoxx in the library and learns a bit more about the priory's history before wondering if the problems are because of the house's power source. They go into the wine cellar but cannot find the generator. The Doctor senses a presence which enters the Hoxx's mind in a sonic assault.

Sarah and Francesca go into the attic and find that Butler will not appear when they call for him. They find him inside, saying that "this is the house that Hoxx built". He attacks Francesca, but Sarah opens the skylight to let in the rain, which damages him. They return to the Doctor and the Hoxx, whose mind is now free, and the four of them go to the cellar and find that the dust has captured the sound waves of the assault. The Doctor follows the ripples to a secret door which leads to a staircase descending to a cave with a pentagram on the floor. The Doctor and Sarah soon find themselves in a side cavern where sounds come from all directions, but dampeners mean that the Hoxx cannot hear them until he catches up with them.

Sarah finds an old digipad, the last entry on which says that they have to get out of there and that a digihuman called Tesca was possessed and killed workers down there. They go in search of Francesca and a message appears on the digipad, telling them to go down below if they wish to see her again. They reach the power relay station, a metal hut, and find Butler inside with Francesca tied up; Butler becomes taken over by a gestalt entity which describes themselves as the Benighted, contained within the power core brought by the Hoxx. They show them a vision of the molten tides on JB Lease III where they lived before a scoop ship funnelled up the ocean and took them with them.

The Doctor is able to set the Benighted free and Butler returns to his usual self. The Hoxx and Francesca decide to leave to stop the barbarism on the Lease Worlds whilst Butler remains at the house, content to read in solitude and telling Sarah that this area was once known as Fetchborough. Sarah decides to one day write a piece on the area and leaves with the Doctor, walked to the TARDIS by the Hoxx and Francesca.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tim Treloar
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Sadie Miller
 * The Hoxx of Balhoon - Dan Starkey
 * Francesca - Ozioma Whenu
 * Butler - David Rintoul

Worldbuilding

 * The Hoxx eats sandwiches.
 * The Doctor has a lightning-resistant umbrella with a question mark handle.
 * The Doctor claims that he and Sarah are from Earnest, the seventh planet of Trinity. It is populated by people with two heads and is known by the Hoxx.
 * The Hoxx believes that humans would roast animals called mallows after taking them from their marshes.
 * The Hoxx assumes that the Doctor and Sarah are from Galactic Heritage. Galactic Heritage have realigned Earth's orbit, fused a new atmosphere and dragged continents back into classic positions.
 * Francesca is a Fleeceling of the Upright Flock, descended from sheep.
 * The Hoxx believes that human men were consigned to the kitchen.
 * Butler has two PhDs in Earth anthropology.
 * Galactic Heritage almost rebuilt the Taj Mahal.
 * The plans for Fetch Priory have been held in the Balhoon Archives for eons.
 * Sarah tells Francesca about shepherdesses.
 * Sarah mentions her aunt.
 * Francesca was looking for digipads when she felt the ghost brush past her.
 * The Hoxx confuses goulash with gruel.
 * Butler serves wine.
 * Lady Pendle is a trustee. She us a Pratchulon and has a crown of orbs and spines.
 * Francesca fed a Jimbo Critter on the shuttle ride to Earth.
 * Scientific research was done at the priory in the 20th century and a cosmic exorcism in the 37th century.
 * Other haunted houses include Borley Rectory and Blackwood Manor.
 * The Hoxx has a mobility platform.
 * A million years ago, the trees of Earth left and travelled to Cheem.
 * The Hoxx has read the works of M. R. James and E. F. Benson.
 * The Hoxx used candles before Francesca set fire to the pom-poms on her pinafore.
 * Sarah sarcastically says that she will give the Hoxx books by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar.
 * Francesca once spilt a vase on Butler.
 * Francesca was abandoned by her flock when she was a lamb.
 * The Doctor hopes that he does not regenerate soon as he owes Sarah a trip to Florana and needs to conclude the Cascade Project for the Brigadier.
 * The Hoxx mentions one of his kindlings: a solicitor at Jolco and Jolco.

Continuity

 * The Fourth Doctor would later mention that he once knew a butler called Butler. (AUDIO: Destination: Nerva)
 * Sarah has seen "flashy" yellow waterproofs in the TARDIS wardrobe. She will later wear them whilst travelling with the Fourth Doctor and Harry. (TV: The Sontaran Experiment)
 * The Doctor and Sarah use an umbrella with a question mark-shaped handle. The Seventh Doctor would later obtain an umbrella matching that description from the Warehouse. (AUDIO: The Warehouse, A Life of Crime)
 * Sarah mentions how the Doctor was able to sense something at the Gulf. (AUDIO: The Gulf)
 * Balhoon and Digihumans were first mentioned in The End of the World.
 * Sarah mentions her aunt, who was first mentioned in The Time Warrior and first appeared in A Girl's Best Friend.
 * Francesca mentions the trees of Earth travelling to Cheem. (TV: The End of the World)
 * When the Doctor finds a secret door, Sarah remarks that it is "like Peladon all over again". (TV: The Monster of Peladon)
 * The Doctor feels that his time is coming near. He will soon regenerate. (TV: Planet of the Spiders)
 * The Doctor owes Sarah a trip to Florana. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)