A new adventure with the Second Doctor as told by his companion, Jamie McCrimmon.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 9, 2016 at 9:29 PM
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: HELICON PRIME
The second entry in the second series of Companion Chronicles, Jake Elliott’s “Helicon Prime” takes a trip back into the Patrick Troughton era with narration from his longest-running companion. And while the story attempts to set itself apart through its placement, it singularly fails to grasp the attention.
This is the first Companion Chronicle for Frazer Hines – and, indeed, his first appearance with Big Finish and his first performance in the role of Jamie McCrimmon since “The Two Doctors” in 1985. That Hines participated is not a surprise given his obvious love of the program and the role it played in his career, but his performance must still have been a revelation when this story was released. I’ve spoken about it in reviews of his Lost Stories, but Hines’ Troughton impression is absolutely uncanny, even here in its first appearance. I have no doubt Troughton would have worked with Big Finish had he the opportunity, and it’s all too easy to close your eyes during “Helicon Prime” and lose yourself in Hines’ wonderful tribute, picturing the second Doctor himself performing the lines. And let’s not overlook Hines’ own character in the process, as he brings the heroic piper back to life with seemingly minimal effort.
When “Helicon Prime” begins, it stakes out an unusual position. Reference is made to Victoria being away studying graphology – we’re in season 6B! Yes, it’s the largely fan-created period of time in which the Doctor and Jamie run missions for the Time Lords, created to explain why they were doing so in “The Two Doctors.” Surely, with such fertile and largely unexplored territory, Elliott would provide something interesting, right? Wrong – “Helicon Prime” is one of the more boring, straightforward Doctor Who stories I’ve heard in a while. The season 6B setting isn’t put to use, but that would be okay if the story was interesting – instead, we get a predictable, obvious mystery plot with the Doctor and Jamie figuring it out from the inside. It’s difficult to offer insight about something so uninspired, so I’ll leave it at this: Elliott does a brilliant job of recapturing the Doctor/Jamie dynamic but fails to surround it with anything compelling, leaving the pleasant glow of nostalgia the only attractive thing about the story.
Then there’s the framing device in which Jamie, back in Scotland, struggles to recover his memories of this journey with the Doctor. It seems largely unmemorable until the end, when suddenly the framing device becomes the “present” of the play – but instead of playing the remainder out as a drama, Hines starts narrating again! This is awkward and confusing, especially coming in service of a largely incomprehensible conclusion. What on earth is Mindy doing in Scotland? How did she get there? These aren’t elements you can simply introduce in order to create a shock ending without any sort of explanation!
The production is largely successful, Nigel Fairs directing Hines to a fine performance while David Darlington provides unobtrusive sound design and music. But nothing about it elevates “Helicon Prime” – and indeed nothing about “Helicon Prime” save Hines himself is particularly impressive. Once you get past the wonderful Troughton impression, what’s left? An uninspired mystery story? Clichéd characters? A confusing denouement? It was notoriously difficult to find good second Doctor novels; I hope the trend does not continue in the audio ranges.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: HELICON PRIME
The second entry in the second series of Companion Chronicles, Jake Elliott’s “Helicon Prime” takes a trip back into the Patrick Troughton era with narration from his longest-running companion. And while the story attempts to set itself apart through its placement, it singularly fails to grasp the attention.
This is the first Companion Chronicle for Frazer Hines – and, indeed, his first appearance with Big Finish and his first performance in the role of Jamie McCrimmon since “The Two Doctors” in 1985. That Hines participated is not a surprise given his obvious love of the program and the role it played in his career, but his performance must still have been a revelation when this story was released. I’ve spoken about it in reviews of his Lost Stories, but Hines’ Troughton impression is absolutely uncanny, even here in its first appearance. I have no doubt Troughton would have worked with Big Finish had he the opportunity, and it’s all too easy to close your eyes during “Helicon Prime” and lose yourself in Hines’ wonderful tribute, picturing the second Doctor himself performing the lines. And let’s not overlook Hines’ own character in the process, as he brings the heroic piper back to life with seemingly minimal effort.
When “Helicon Prime” begins, it stakes out an unusual position. Reference is made to Victoria being away studying graphology – we’re in season 6B! Yes, it’s the largely fan-created period of time in which the Doctor and Jamie run missions for the Time Lords, created to explain why they were doing so in “The Two Doctors.” Surely, with such fertile and largely unexplored territory, Elliott would provide something interesting, right? Wrong – “Helicon Prime” is one of the more boring, straightforward Doctor Who stories I’ve heard in a while. The season 6B setting isn’t put to use, but that would be okay if the story was interesting – instead, we get a predictable, obvious mystery plot with the Doctor and Jamie figuring it out from the inside. It’s difficult to offer insight about something so uninspired, so I’ll leave it at this: Elliott does a brilliant job of recapturing the Doctor/Jamie dynamic but fails to surround it with anything compelling, leaving the pleasant glow of nostalgia the only attractive thing about the story.
Then there’s the framing device in which Jamie, back in Scotland, struggles to recover his memories of this journey with the Doctor. It seems largely unmemorable until the end, when suddenly the framing device becomes the “present” of the play – but instead of playing the remainder out as a drama, Hines starts narrating again! This is awkward and confusing, especially coming in service of a largely incomprehensible conclusion. What on earth is Mindy doing in Scotland? How did she get there? These aren’t elements you can simply introduce in order to create a shock ending without any sort of explanation!
The production is largely successful, Nigel Fairs directing Hines to a fine performance while David Darlington provides unobtrusive sound design and music. But nothing about it elevates “Helicon Prime” – and indeed nothing about “Helicon Prime” save Hines himself is particularly impressive. Once you get past the wonderful Troughton impression, what’s left? An uninspired mystery story? Clichéd characters? A confusing denouement? It was notoriously difficult to find good second Doctor novels; I hope the trend does not continue in the audio ranges.
Decidedly mediocre.
5/10