Stories Audio Drama The Fourth Doctor Adventures The Sands of Life 1 image Overview Characters How to Listen Reviews 4 Statistics Related Stories Quotes Overview Released Monday, February 11, 2013 Written by Nicholas Briggs Publisher Big Finish Productions Runtime 73 minutes Story Type Two-Parter Time Travel Future Location (Potential Spoilers!) Sahara Desert, Africa, Earth Synopsis Sheridan Moorkurk has just been elected president of Earth... but the harsh realities of who really runs the planet are just beginning to dawn on her. And what's more, she's starting to hear voices. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Romana encounter a mass of aliens heading to Earth... Aliens who have already made the mistake of upsetting the infamous Cuthbert, all-powerful CEO of The Conglomerate, by destroying one of his space platforms. Will the Doctor and Romana be able to avert inter-species war that will destroy all life on Earth? NOTE: The adventure continues in Doctor Who: War Against the Laan. 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 Cuthbert First Appearance Laan First Appearance Romana I Mary Tamm K9 Mark II John Leeson Show All Characters (5) How to listen to The Sands of Life: Big Finish Audio The Sands of Life Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Default 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 4 reviews 25 May 2024 · 142 words Review by thedefinitearticle63 Spoilers 2 This review contains spoilers! This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order. Previous Story: The Stealers from Saiph This is actually a fairly decent Briggs story, it's not full of vague action sequences and frustratingly bland characters. The Laan are actually a really cool concept for a monster. The story itself is decent, I don't think the Doctor gets enough to do and in general some of the conflicts feel forced. In general I think this story is mainly setting up the next one, so I can only hope that will be better. Cuthbert, played by the late David Warner is an annoyingly evil character and he succeeds in being a hateable villain. I found it weird that it was 3 parts, it didn't really add anything to the story. Not great, not terrible. Next Story: War Against the Laan thedefinitearticle63 View profile Like Liked 2 16 January 2025 · 291 words Review by KnuppMello Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! Original (Brazilian Portuguese) Translation (English) "The Sands Of Life! The Sands Of Life! The Sands Od Life!" . Temos aqui uma história que não agrada a grande maioria de seus ouvintes. Sendo bem sincero, eu até reconheço e entendo as críticas direcionadas ao comportamento narrativo lento focado mais nos diálogos e nas negociações, seja elas com as criaturas ou entre os personagens. Mas ainda vejo uma história bem estruturada muito bem dosado que não apresenta nada que comprometa sua qualidade, você pode achar as vozes das "Laans" meio cringe e superficiais, tudo bem, mas isso não anula o fato de que elas possuem um conceito bem bolado e interessante, são criaturas telepaticas de sexo feminino que se assemelham a baleias, elas vivem no vórtice temporal, se materializam em vários planetas para encontrar territórios adqueados para dar luz aos seus filhotes usando energia temporal. O interessante é que inicialmente as "Laans" acabam escolhendo apenas as mulheres para se comunicarem telepaticamente, por motivos de confiança, ambas possuem semelhanças de afeto e amor materno. Mary Tamm é adorável como sempre, seu desempenho é de grande destaque e totalmente alegre, um outro destaque é a Presidente da Terra "Sheridan", é interessante com a problemática vai a cada minuto testando a personagem colocando a várias vezes contra a parede em situações que geram grandes indecisões em suas ações. Os motivos de Cuthbert ser o cara malvadão da vez, são bem convincentes pra mim, existe todo um acordo com o governo que acaba sofrendo um entrave, se compromete durante a ""invasão"". Envolvido diretamente nisso, Cuthbert faz ameaças a presidente deixando indecisa várias vezes (como dito anteriormente). Enfim, temos aqui uma história bem injustiçada na minha opinião...Muito Underrated! . "Você é igual a nós, Romana...Uma mulher que se move pelos oceanos do tempo". "The Sands Of Life! The Sands Of Life! The Sands Of Life!" We have here a story that does not please the vast majority of its listeners. To be honest, I even recognize and understand the criticisms directed at the slow narrative behavior focused more on dialogues and negotiations, whether with creatures or among the characters. But I still see a well-structured story that does not present anything that compromises its quality. You may find the voices of the "Laans" a bit cringe and superficial, alright, but this does not negate the fact that they have a well-thought-out and interesting concept. They are telepathic female creatures resembling whales, they live in the time vortex, materializing on various planets to find suitable territories to give birth to their offspring using temporal energy. Interestingly, initially, the "Laans" only choose women to communicate telepathically with, due to trust, both share similarities in affection and maternal love. Mary Tamm is delightful as ever, her performance is of great emphasis and entirely joyful, another highlight is the Earth's President "Sheridan," it's interesting how the problem tests the character every minute, putting her against the wall in situations that generate great indecisions in her actions. The reasons for Cuthbert being the bad guy this time are quite convincing to me, there is a whole deal with the government that ends up getting stuck, compromised during the "invasion." Directly involved in this, Cuthbert makes threats to the president leaving her indecisive several times (as mentioned earlier). In short, we have here a story that is unfairly treated in my opinion... Very Underrated! "You are like us, Romana... A woman who moves through the oceans of time." (Translation generated by AI, so mistakes are possible). KnuppMello View profile Like Liked 1 16 June 2025 · 506 words Review by Ryebean Spoilers This review contains spoilers! REVIEW ALSO POSTED IN WAR AGAINST THE LAAN The longest Big Finish Fourth Doctor Adventure on an epic scale - this feels more like a New Series opener with the President of the World getting involved - but isn't the Doctor the President of the World? This story focuses more on Romana, which is great because we unfortunately didn't get enough of Mary Tamm due to her unfortunate recasting and untimely death. Her performance is fantastic, balancing the two sides of her character that Season 16 used - the damsel in distress in the first half, and the magnificent and independent Time Lady in the second. I like that the Doctor is slightly jealous of Romana because the Laan contacted her instead, and plays out as humorous, but there's a deeper meaning for him as he's not as important as he believes himself to be, as his character arc in Season 16 explains. Poor K-9, struggling to move in the desert. His presence feels authentic and very similar to the TV series, being limited by his environments, but it's a shame he's not used more - I miss that tin dog! I'm not sure who to talk about here - the Laan aren't the real monsters, the humans are. Let's start off with Cuthbert - the first of a few appearances in the Fourth Doctor Adventures, and David Warner just excels at this. I like those powerful characters who clearly have a lot of influence if they're not too over-the-top or generic, like Van Statten. For once, he doesn't get what's coming to them - the President says she'll try and make him accountable, but we don't see that, leaving him open for more adventures, and I'm interested in seeing what's coming next. I love this grand scale, with the military not being too stupid and stereotypical, but willing to accept alien life and using it to their advantage. The opening story amused me for personal reasons - I'm currently writing a story with the Fourth Doctor in Africa, so it was a great help to hear him in the Sahara Desert. I love the way that it spreads across the world and even beyond. It's a story of epic proportions, and it makes it more tense and raises the stakes. Hayley Atwell's in this story! They really have a stellar cast for this, don't they? Of course she's the President of the World - She's an independent and brilliant character and her relation to the Laan is great. I love the idea of humanity expecting an invasion, but is just a misunderstanding of a birthing cycle on the wrong planet - it's unique, but it's rather annoying how they keep repeating the same information. If they cut that down, it could probably be just four parts. This is an amazing, massive story, boosted with many stars at the top of their game! It slows down near the end and, as I say, it can get a bit boring and repetitive, but overall it's definitely worth a listen! Ryebean View profile Like Liked 0 2 June 2025 · 22 words Review by Rock_Angel I loved how this started and I love where this is going it felt like a 4 parter in a 3 part episode structure Rock_Angel View profile Like Liked 0 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating90 members 3.19 / 5 Member Statistics Listened 173 Favourited 4 Reviewed 4 Saved 3 Skipped 1 Related Stories The Fourth Doctor Adventures S2 • Episode 3 War Against the Laan Rating: 3.14 Story Skipped Audio Drama Reviews(4) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Audio Visuals The Destructor Contract Rating: 2.80 Story Skipped Audio Drama More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Audio Visuals Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Submit a Quote
