Review by Daniel Mansfield

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In the latest Fifth Doctor Adventures boxset from Big Finish, we revisit the tail end of Peter Davison‘s tenure as the Doctor for three new stories with companions Tegan and Turlough.

Opening and closing the set are a pair of tales by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle, which take the TARDIS trio to England in the 1950s and 1980s respectively. In both settings, they find sinister forces offering miraculous gifts.

Field of Miracles sees the Doctor and friends arrive in a village post-World War Two, which, despite the austerity faced by the rest of the country, is positively thriving. With the help of young mother Joanie (Emily Woodward), they discover that the villagers may have paid a terrible price for their prosperity.

Meanwhile, Land of Fools takes the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough to London, which has become a police state ruled by a powerful company called Luqos. Split up across the city, the travellers’ investigations lead them to a man known only as M, who is behind London’s new golden age.

Both of Mooney and Pringle’s episodes are slender but thoroughly enjoyable ruminations on the nature of human desires, almost morality plays with a sci-fi twist on the age-old warning ‘be careful what you wish for’. The guest characters in each are broad but well-performed, with some standout moments for Janet Fielding‘s Tegan, who supplies moxie and compassion in equal measure.

Sandwiched between Mooney and Pringle’s stories is the titular Helter Skelter, by James Moran. As with the previous two stories, Moran’s script puts Tegan firmly in the limelight, as the travellers are caught in a time loop that only she is aware of.

While the setting of an intergalactic amusement park is a little underexplored, and the main threat thinly sketched, there’s lots to enjoy here, not least Janet Fielding taking on a more Doctorish role as the clued-in Tegan. Peter Davison and Mark Strickson are also excellent here; not only is their rapport with Fielding a delight to hear once again, but they excel at playing the Doctor and Turlough’s blissful ignorance of the danger they keep finding themselves in as the loop repeats.

Overall, Helter Skelter proves both a stupendous showcase for Janet Fielding‘s Tegan, and a cracking selection of stories. Like its namesake, it may not offer the most sophisticated of rides, but it certainly serves up plenty of fast-paced fun.

Helter Skelter is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com