Minuet in Hell [AUDIO/2001.4.23]

★★☆☆☆

  Minuet in Hell is the very definition of odd, and not exactly in the best of ways. It's certainly ambitious with its attempt to mix Satanism, scientific technology, Eighth Doctor amnesia and allusions to seedy underground cults that kidnap young women into enforced sexual abuse, I'll give it that. Perhaps its inconsistent nature comes from the fact that it itself is a mishmash of various Audio Visuals adventures? I'm not certain, of course — I'm not sure anyone can ever be certain with such a weird beast as Minuet in Hell.

  I remember listening to this the first time, being thrown into this demented world of US politics and panto demons, and feeling more than a bit conflicted. See, contrary to many people's opinions, I do think there's fun to be had in this audio story. The entire feel of it all is much more veered towards crass comedy than anything else; no, this isn't horror at all, not when the demons at the heart of the tangled web are cackling, sadistic perverts with heavily distored American accents. Nicholas Courtney gets to have a bit of fun as the old Brig, and even Charley Pollard, considering the horrific events she's forced to go through, oddly manages to maintain an aloof and gung-ho — even childish to an extent — attitude. Plus, Robert Jezek is always a joy to listen to, even when he's not a shape-shifting Whifferdill and instead a black-hearted televangelist with eyes on the White House.

  Being able to have fun with a wonky adventure is one thing... regarding said wonky adventure as good is quite another. I've been thinking about Minuet in Hell nonstop for over a decade now; I haven't quite been able to place my own feelings on it. Do I actually like it because of its intentional (and unintentional) humour and sound ideas? Do I despise it for being the distasteful (both in terms of subject matter and, more importantly, structure) almost-bore that it is? Thankfully, I think I've made up my mind — Minuet in Hell is a bad slice of Doctor Who that somehow has a taste of its own that I'm not able to get anywhere else. It's why I keep revisiting it, even when I know I'll be underwhelmed. It's much slower than it needs to, it hardly does anything with the ideas presented and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time... but it's a bad taste I can never let go.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Whether we like it or not, Minuet in Hell is a part of the Eighth Doctor and Charley's initial run of audio stories and it has its own flavour compared to the other three of the bunch. I honestly can't give it a higher score since I always get bored after the halfway point (it really doesn't need this much runtime), but it's something I revisit from time to time because its unique mix of bad taste and excruciatingly intriguing ideas is right up my alley.