📝5/10

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! This time: it’s the beginning of a new era!

MY SCATTERED AND TOTALLY IRRELEVANT NOTES:

The Redux version of The Sirens of Time is out now, so I decided a relisten of the original release was in order before I tackle the new one.

This release is a taster of what BF has in store for us—it blends Doctors, settings, and ideas for a production that is a bit rough around the edges in terms of writing and sound design, but it booms with energy and mostly good performances.

The overarching story sees Gallifrey under attack from a deadly force, forcing the Time Lords to draw in three different Doctors from their separate adventures. We meet Anthony Keetch’s Coordinator Vansell, who’ll pop up in other audios in the future, desperately attempting to stop the Doctor.

Part 1 with Seven and a girl named Elenya on an alien planet is a bit strange: the characters sound comical, the sound effects are a bit simple, and there’s not much of a plot. Sylvester McCoy and Colin McIntyre are great, while I cannot take Maggie Stables (in her BF debut a few audios before she appears as companion Evelyn Smythe) seriously.

The Part 1 cliffhanger is quite disappointing, to be honest.

Part 2 switches focus to a German U-boat during WWI, with Peter Davison’s Five appearing on the scene. This is a little taste of a historical story, with equally cringey German accents, slightly less impressive performances, and an empty plot. The biggest takeaway is Mark Gatiss playing Captain Schwieger.

The Part 2 cliffhanger is even worse.

Onto Part 3, this time with Colin Baker helming the Sixth Doctor in another sci-fi chapter, this time on a spaceship. It’s a bit more focused on time disruptions to slowly nudge the story towards the finale and the main event. But that’s all there is to it because the rest is pretty messy. Baker is on fire, though.

Sarah Mowat appears in all three parts as three seemingly separate characters, who are actually the same. It's not a very interesting twist, especially once you are familiar with it.

Part 4 is where the fun begins—we move onto Gallifrey, with all the Doctors meeting and bickering before they work together to take down the Temperon. But this is also a part of messy editing and a plot that is all over the place. It is a bit timey-wimey and very talky, and also way too long.