Stories Audio Drama Classic Series Special Releases The Helm of Awe 1 image Overview Characters How to Listen Reviews 3 Statistics Quotes Overview Released Tuesday, April 11, 2017 Written by Philip Hinchcliffe, Marc Platt Publisher Big Finish Productions Directed by Ken Bentley Runtime 118 minutes Time Travel Present Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Vikings Location (Potential Spoilers!) Bothness, The Shetland Islands, Earth, Scotland Synopsis The TARDIS arrives on the remote Shetland isle of Bothness and the Doctor and Leela find themselves threatened by Vikings! Only all is not as it seems. The locals are celebrating the old Norse fire festival of Up Helly Aa, so there’s nothing to be worried about. Or is there? For, unknown to the islanders, the TARDIS crew are on the trail of an ancient artefact invested with mysterious powers that has recently been stolen and brought to this remote location. Somewhere on this island lurks something ancient, and evil, and alien. The Doctor and Leela will have to stop it. Only on this occasion time might not be on their side. Listen Listened Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save Characters Fourth Doctor Tom Baker Leela Louise Jameson How to listen to The Helm of Awe: Big Finish Audio Philip Hinchcliffe Presents Volume 3: The Helm of Awe Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 3 reviews 3 June 2025 · 334 words Review by Ryebean Spoilers This review contains spoilers! A great start... but then kinda falls flat on its face. Tom is able to replicate his character perfectly, even after 30 years. He does not sound any different to his TV counterpart. Louise, however, has a slight difference. It's not too bad, but you can tell that her voice is deeper. However, Marc Platt and Philip Hinchcliffe have done an excellent job at recreating both of their characters. Their relationship is so sweet and they're willing to fight anyone for each other. Leela's a lot nicer than usual, and you can tell that she's settling into life on the TARDIS - her joining in the race was hilarious - "Sevateeeeeem! AYEEEEE!" and getting all the girls to do it was fantastic. To be honest, I did struggle with the villains. I wasn't really focusing on the second episode of the audio, so I was a little lost about what was going on for the rest of it. However, the characters themselves were very intimidating for a generic monster intent on destroying the world. The Vikings themselves were very brutal, and the stakes were always high when they were ready to kill. I love how you couldn't trust anyone throughout it and it eventually ended up with a lot of the characters we thought were friends ended up being the villain (I mean, I think. It got very confusing in the second half.) Yeah, let's talk about the plot. I really loved the first half, although the cliffhangers were very similar for episode 1 and 2. But in the second half, it got very complicated and I was very lost. But I loved the theme of it. It was so authentically 70s, I've never heard anything more like the TV show. I love it so much for that, I love stories that try to replicate the era that they're set in. Love this story, but if you aren't focused on it completely, you'll lose track of what's going on and it'll be very hard to listen to. Ryebean View profile Like Liked 0 24 March 2025 · 16 words Review by Rock_Angel Definitely stronger then the previous one I feel this story type works best for Leela and 4 Rock_Angel View profile Like Liked 0 3 May 2024 · 169 words Review by thedefinitearticle63 Spoilers This review contains spoilers! This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order. Previous Story: The Genesis Chamber A fun, if a bit basic adventure. Technically not a historical but not too far off being one with the setting. No complaints on the acting front, The Doctor and Leela are as well-acted as ever and the supporting cast is very solid. Overall really manages to capture the feel of the era of the show that it's set in and a funny meta-quote on the use of quarries; "Once the TARDIS gets a quarry in her sight she's like a ferret down a rabbit hole." Next Story: The God of Phantoms This was my first review, while I have watched and listened to all the previous stories starting all the way with The Beginning, the review feature was only added at the time of listening to this story and I don't feel like I can review any of the other stories until I have rewatched/relistened to them. thedefinitearticle63 View profile Like Liked 0 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating27 members 3.24 / 5 Member Statistics Listened 58 Favourited 2 Reviewed 3 Saved 3 Skipped 1 Quotes Add Quote Submit a Quote