The Hounds of Artemis is another in the list of ‘archaeological’ Doctor Who stories which build on the legacy of the archetypal original, Pyramids of Mars. Pyramids, of course, riffed on the ‘imprisoned evil’ trope from various horror movies and this continues in this story, following in the footsteps of Pyramids, Forty Five’s Fallen Gods and River Song’s The Boundless Sea. (To make the links all the more explicit, at one point, the Doctor even claims to be from the Scarman Institue).

For this story, we’re in Eastern Turkey and our intrepid group of archaeologists are trying to unearth the Temple of Artemis, a Greek goddess.

In a wonderfully Moffatian twist, the pre-titles sequence sees the temple breached by the archaeological team only for the Doctor and Amy to stroll out from inside. The team is small yet typical for these sort of stories – the young, idealistic academic leader, the older, more pompous financier and the European additions, in this case the German Miss Van-der Cass.

Soon, the temple is discovered and the Doctor, Amy and their new acquaintances are confronted by dog/human hybrids and a towering, golden statue of the goddess, Artemis.

There’s not a lot in this that’s new or original and it hits all the expected beats of this type of story. However, there are some interesting, if not entirely successful, stylistic choices in its telling and a few scenes that stick in the mind after listening to it.

The choice of how to tell the story fits the story although I’m not sure the conceit holds up or works all the way through. The story is told from the point of view of the granddaughter of Stapleton, the archaeologist heading up the expedition. She is reading from documents written about the expedition including, mainly, records written down by the Doctor and a diary written by Amy.

Voicing the granddaughter is Clare Corbett – she has recorded a number of Doctor Who audiobooks as well as being involved in a few Big Finish productions. Apparently this release was supposed to feature Karen Gillan but this never happened (possibly partly because its release was delayed on more than one occasion). Consequently, Corbett also voices Amy and, to her credit, does a pretty good job at it. She also does a great voice for Van-der Cass.

But, reading the Doctor’s contributions we actually have Matt Smith. It’s always a treat when the original Doctor actors are involved with these as no one else can really, properly, recreate their performance and whilst we might have the likes of Frazer Hines, Tim Treloar and even Jon Culshaw, nothing beats the real thing (particularly for me, as Matt Smith has more or less inched his way into being my favourite Doctor – he’s certainly my favourite of the modern era). In fact, the contrast of other actors performing the Doctor is thrown into stark contrast in this release because Corbett also performs some of the Doctor’s lines and, although she has a good stab at it, it’s simply not the same. There’s a vibrancy to Smith’s reading that doesn’t transfer to Corbett’s reading – when she’s being the Doctor, that is, because her Amy is, as I say, pretty good.

Unfortunately, the conceit of Amy’s diary being the main source of information about the adventure doesn't quite work. There is actually a point in the story where we’re supposed to believe Amy chooses to write in her diary whilst being chased by the eponymous hounds. An attempt is made to suggest she is under the influence of psychic powers but it doesn’t really work and really pulled me out of the story as it got more and more ridiculous as to when we were supposed to believe Amy was writing her diary.

Using a diary as a form of narration requires a certain suspension of belief normally anyway, recording people’s dialogue verbatim as direct speech is not really how diaries are written with reported speech being far more likely, but we tend to allow this for the sake of the story. The ‘writing while in mortal peril’ pushes it too far.
I also got confused as to where the Doctor’s accounts of events were coming from. There is a mention of scribblings on a bit of paper but after that there is immense detail on the Doctor’s part and I’m not sure where Stapleton’s granddaughter is supposed to be getting this information.

Once the temple is breached the story takes a few unexpected turns. There is a vivid image of a banquet table with a sumptuous feast. A huge golden statue of Artemis stands at one end and, in a manner similar to the Weeping Angels, it is seen to move and yet not seen to move as events progress.

The feast is partaken of by Lord Woolcroft (the expedition’s financier) and Miss Van-der Cass and then the story gives us the horrific reveal that, in the style of The Keys of Marinus, the feast is an illusion and they have actually been eating human remains. It becomes even more terrible when, by eating this, the two of them begin to turn into hounds. This leads to some tragic scenes where the Doctor vainly appeals to the humans they once were only to realise there is no way of saving them. The climax brings in the local ‘wise woman’ which leads to a slightly deux ex machina ending but overall it works.

Historically, the archaeological dig and the archetypal characters are about as far as it goes although, at the end of the story, the Doctor gives Stapleton a clue to another, more authentic, Temple of Artemis ready to be discovered in another part of Turkey. Although Stapleton is fictional, the temple is real and there is, indeed a Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, now part of modern Turkey (although, strangely, the real temple was actually rediscovered in 1869).

Aside from the slightly well-worn storyline and the diary conceit which doesn’t quite work, this is a solid release and a fun adventure for the 11th Doctor – although, as with all 11th Doctor and Amy stories, is poorer for not featuring Rory.