Starting the 5^th Doctor adventures for 2026, April brings with it 3, 2-part stories in the Helter Skelter boxset. Featuring The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, these instalments begin in Heatherington and its Field of Miracles, where wishing upon a star may be a lot more trouble than it’s worth.

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough arrive in the quaint village of Heatherington in 1951. But something strange is happening. In an England of post-war austerity, Heatherington is thriving – the shops are full of produce and everyone seems to have everything they’ve ever wanted, even if what they’ve wanted is the dead to return to them.

The Doctor and his friends must stop the creeping invasion of the Asteri, wish-granting crystalline organisms of awesome destructive power, before they extract a terrible price from the villagers.

Big Finish Synopsis

Field of Miracles is, at the very least, an interesting start to the latest batch of 5^th Doctor adventures. Mooney and Pringle’s idea for the range takes the series firmly to within the folk horror genre. Set in post-WWII Britain, the TARDIS trio are brought to the small, quintessential English village of Heatherington. Like many other places across the country at the time, this village has recently seen more than its fair share of loss, a sense which echoes throughout its residents. Unlike everywhere else, however, the population of Heatherington are having their wishes granted, and their former residents, friends and family have begun to return from the dead.   

While neither idea (wishes gone wrong, people returning from the dead) is particularly novel or unique, this story does have a certain persuasive quality about it that convinces listeners otherwise. The writers, especially in the first half, build an adventure with a strong, sensory ambience. From the outset, the mood is tense, with villagers in a fervour and our protagonists dropped in the middle of an unsettling situation that is tearing apart the community. It’s an instantly engaging way to start the story, which ultimately becomes a double-edged sword as it progresses towards the latter half.

Like many Classic Who two-parters, this story increasingly suffers from a lack of breathing room. These issues are especially pertinent to the episodes’ series of explorable thematic undercurrents. Despite taking the time to set them up, the story never takes the time to look at any of them with any sort of depth. The sense of shared grief by the residents of Heatherington, for example, which is never explored beyond the confines of Tegan’s conversations with Joanie, who wished for her infant son back. There are also clear signs of psychological trauma shown from the returnees; however, this too is sidelined for a need to continue the plot.

Alongside its themes which lack depth, there are also issues to be had with its resolution. While it functions as intended, I can’t help but think that it feels out of place for the era it’s attempting to mimic. It’s trite, almost fairytale-esque, as it takes The Doctor’s own wish to destroy the Astarii. While a dime a dozen during the Moffat era, these ending don’t mesh well with the bleaker and more grounded climaxes from the 80s.