HELICON PRIME

In Big Finish‘s audio adventure Helicon Prime, Jamie (Frazer Hines), recalls a tale in which he and the 2nd Doctor were caught up in a murder mystery on Helicon Prime but all is not quite what it seems and the Doctor appears to be distracted.

The story (Jamie remembering the incident) takes place after the TV adventure The War Games (he has trouble remembering anything, and only remembers this incident due to a plot device).  Jamie recalls the Doctor mentioning that Victoria is away studying graphology (re: The Two Doctors).

Some reviews cite this release as worth getting for “Frazer Hines’s note perfect rendition of Patrick Troughton’s Doctor”, but that, sadly, is not the case.  Helicon Prime is Frazer/Jamie’s first Big Finish offering and it tells.  Helicon Prime comes across as a first-person audiobook with one other voice.  Frazer takes a fair stab at doing Patrick Troughton, but it’s not a patch on his later, more refined, impersonation in The Selachian Gambit.  Often tonal variations used in dialogue (such as excitement) bleeds over into the descriptive passages that follow.  Having heard one of Frazer’s later performances, though, it is interesting to see how much he improved.

However, as an enhanced audiobook, Helicon Prime is a reasonable offering.  It lasts approximately one hour and is split over two episodes (with theme music).

The usual price for Helicon Prime is £7.99 (download) / £8.99 (CD).  I bought it as part of Big Finish’s “15 year celebration” in June in which the four stories from their 2nd season of Companion Chronicles was offered for £10, making each one cost £2.50.  At £2.50 this is definitely worth a listen.  For £7.99, less so – save your money and get The Selachian Gambit instead.