Audio Club: The Sirens of Time

I don’t really have that much interest in them. Besides, there’s more than enough Big Finish I haven’t listened to yet. The two I’d be the most interested in would Sword of Orion and Minuet in Hell, which if I remember correctly were both originally Audio Visual stories.

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And so we reach Part 4, where everything comes together. I will admit, the interactions between the Doctors are a lot of fun. I don’t mind the Temperon voice. I mean, I can totally tell it’s Nick Briggs, but it’s not bad and it’s not overused. Using the subjugated Time Lords as essentially batteries is a cool idea. The way the first three episodes are revealed to have been resolved and the changes made to time to allow for the conquest of Gallifrey do make sense, as does the Sirens’ plan. I also like the Sixth Doctor’s little speech about the differences between incarnations. Spoilerific explanations for the confused ahead! So, the way this works is this: the Seventh Doctor saves Sancroff from death, thus allowing him to become a figurehead in the second Velyshaan empire; because the Fifth Doctor is so intent on returning to the TARDIS, he inadvertently prevents the sinking of Lusitania which allows a thus surviving passenger to kill Alexander Flemming before the discovery of penicillin, thus causing a plague to nearly wipe out humanity in the 1950s before the development of space travel; the Sixth Doctor frees the Temperon, and thus the Velyshaans, allowing them to harness the Temperon for their Vortex drives. Because the Earth Alliance doesn’t stop their first empire, they rampage across the galaxy. The Sirens of Time come in to the plot here by offering the Doctors a chance to fix their mistakes. Which is where danger lies. The Doctor has already responded to the Sirens’ call once. If any of them were to respond a second time, they would be ensnared forever to wreak havoc on the timelines so the Sirens’ can feed on the damages. Hope this long spoiler clears up any confusion over the plot of this story. Speaking on the story as a whole, it’s an interesting idea and I will always applaud Big Finish for being experimental, even if it doesn’t always work. Doing a multi-Doctor story where each of the first three parts features a different incarnation is a fabulous idea, especially when those three parts aren’t in Doctor order (in this case 7, 5, 6). While there are much better stories down the line, I still enjoyed this in the moment and found the second half to be the best. It’s a bold start and at the time, a rather brilliant one. Showcasing the three actors they’d secured, but also giving each a part of the spotlight. A solid three-and-a-half stars.

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Those are the ones I’m intrigued by.

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So I listened to Talking 'Bout My Regeneration (Doctor Who: Talking 'Bout My Regeneration - The Making of The Sirens of Time - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Special Releases - Big Finish). It’s not your typical behind-the-scenes and is rather interesting because of that. We get a brief history of audio drama in Doctor Who before a bit on the origins of Big Finish. We learn about some the origins of Sirens and about the then future of Big Finish. It’s interesting that Gary Russell essentially says “No Novel Adaptations” and “yes to Lost Stories, but not the familiar ones like The Nightmare Fair”. A unique little oddity in the world of behind-the-scenes.

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I just listened to Talking 'Bout My Regeneration too. A nice behind the scenes. I nearly spat out my drink when I heard Nicholas Briggs say he’d quite like to do a Dalek and he wonders if he will get a chance - he’ll never stop :grin:

It actually made me want to listen to the story again. But, onwards!!

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I have now listen to the whole story. The good parts are as many have mentioned the interactions between the doctors. I love multi doctor storys for that. The rest of the story is okay but nothing more. But as a start for big finish it feels exciting and I am looking forward to hearing more storys.

3.5/5

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The Sirens of Audio is a podcast which has been running for a few years now and has quite a few interviews with Big Finish bods.

The very first episode, from 2020, looks at The Sirens of Time - in case anyone was interested.

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Started in 2011, Traveling the Vortex is podcast where three guys from Kansas (two experienced Whovians and one, at the time, Newbie) bounce around the Whoniverse at random. They covered The Sirens of Time in Episode 67. (Episode 67 - Fish Fingers, Custard, and a Panda Bear in a Chair - Traveling the Vortex)

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I love The Sirens of Audio. I highly recommend them, too!

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I very much agree with the opinions stated in this thread, mediocre to good story with great performances from the cast. The Doctors interacting with each other in part 4 is definitely the highlight for me.
I gave it a 3/5 :slightly_smiling_face:

I found this cover for The Sirens of Time 5 or 6 years ago, probably fan made but really great :+1:

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I haven’t listened to this one in a hot minute. I might need to. I always remember feeling like it’s not a fantastic little story but it’s really fun way to kill 2 hours.

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Welcome to the forum! It’s definitely worth a listen - if nothing else it is a lot of fun.

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Unlike many of the early main range stories I actually remember this one! Unfortunately, it’s not for positive reasons. I listened to this originally right after finishing the first series of Eighth Doctor Adventures, and I remember finding Sirens of Time confusing and sort of plodding, although it’s always fun to hear Doctors interact with each other! I can see where they were going for their first outing, but I’m glad there was some more early hits that I got to quickly, so I didn’t fall off of main range stuff completely.

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finally got the time to listen to this and
it was just okay

really enjoyed Six on this, i wasn’t a huge fan of his era but i always felt there was potential and hopefully i’ll enjoy his audio stories more

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General consensus is that Old Sixie was rehabilitated by his audio adventures.

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Just tagging on the end, here. I missed the start of the ‘Audio Club’ posts, but I thought I’d add my tuppence.

By any measure, the release of Sirens was a defining moment in the history of Doctor Who. The point at which ‘fan’ stoies were legitimised by BBC approval and the presence of original series actors in their original roles. Without Sirens, we would not have all the stories and characters which have come from Big Finish since, and may even have never had the 2005 TV revival.

I have listened to it several times now, but each time Ihave come away with the feeling that, somehow, the team bit off a bit more than they could chew. The timey-wimey concepts are big, the inclusion of three Doctors with their own stories is bold, and the re-use of actors in multiple roles is clever. However, the story is muddled and sometimes verges on incomprehensible, the mixing and sound design is often murky or unclear, and the conclusion lacks clarity and punch.

What makes Sirens work and keeps people listening is undoubtedly the presence of ‘real’ doctors, and what brings joy is the banter and bickering when they finally meet which pays off for all the earlier confusion.

It’s flawed, but it’s position in history makes it great.

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Don’t worry about tagging on the end - there’s no real statute of limitations on the threads and, hopefully, as the forum grows, we’ll get a few more voices added to the mix.

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Great first proper Doctor Who release by Big Finish. The plot is great. Split evenly between the 5th, 6th and 7th incarnation with a team up for the last quarter gives you enough of each Doctor to not get bored, and enough clues for the overall plot to bring you into the final part wtih questions. The voice acting is brilliant and the sound design is top notch. You can tell they learnt a lot from Bernice Summerfield Season 1. Overall this was very satisfying and a great way to bring you into this new audio world of Doctor Who. 4.5/5

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Thinking of listening to a main range story between each other set I listen to starting now.

Just finished up part one which I really enjoyed, definitely intriguing, the character’s all seem fun, and McCoy is always great to hear.

I remember listening to this first part before years ago, but didn’t remember anything, and definitely dont’ remember any of the other parts if I did listen, so ye, this’ll be fun!

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Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.