The Monthly Adventures #003 - "Whispers of Terror" by Justin Richards

With the audio plays being a whole new method of storytelling for Doctor Who, it would be expected that some innovative ideas would be done with the format. So, just three audios in, writing regular Justin Richards created a story with a creature made entirely of sound as the villain. It’s a novel concept for an entirely sound based story that would eventually be perfected in the magnificent Scherzo but here, it’s clear Richards was not the writer for such an out there idea.

In a museum of auditory antiquities, the Doctor and Peri come across a murder and a series of peculiar tamperings. With a presidential candidate trapped with them, the pair must uncover a conspiracy heralded by a creature made of sound.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

At first glance, Whispers of Terror seems to be a classic base under siege with a distinct horror element, which unfortunately is not the case. It keeps up this persona for its whole first part, which is easily the best bit of the story, being incredibly well written, scary and honestly quite stressful. It’s here we’re introduced to the sound creature, which for the first half of the audio is our villain and it’s with this inclusion that we see Whispers of Terror’s excellent sound design; the ghastly voices the creature speaks in and the uncanny mimicry it carries out are both incredibly well executed and undeniably scary, though these concepts would be done better in Scherzo 49 episodes later. The creature is not underutilised either, there are some fantastic scenes making use of the idea, such as when it’s tortured via an editing software, having bits of its soundwave cut out and mixed up. Between the creature, the sound design and the setting, a wonderfully alien museum of sound, I was ready for a chilling horror adventure with great effects and a better antagonist.

However, after Part 2, this story turns from a horror story to a political thriller when, in a somewhat madcap reveal, the sound creature turns out to be the consciousness of a murdered presidential candidate and his former pick for vice president - Beth Pernell - becomes our antagonist. It’s a weird change in tone that honestly doesn’t work for me and I feel the episode does away with what was a really strong concept. However, it does try another twist besides the reveal of the sound creature’s identity: one character is revealed to not be real and instead just the sound creature again but using a different voice. It’s a weird choice and it never really comes back, which makes the whole thing just seem odd. As for our leads, this is deep into JNT bitching era and neither the Doctor or Peri are any fun; this was a few audios before Big Finish decided to go down the route of a kinder Sixth Doctor and so here, he does nothing but bicker and is honestly at points like the worst of Season 22. I appreciate the fact that some people like a more boisterous Doctor but him just being permanently irritated makes listening to him miserable.

Whispers of Terror is a story in two halves - a well written and constructed horror and a somewhat messy conspiracy thriller, two stories that simply do not go together. It had some great concepts that only contributed to a couple of great scenes, with the rest feeling somewhat like wasted potential. Not bad by any means whatsoever but it’s a story that has been done and will be done better.

6/10

Pros:

+ Great first part that expertly builds tension

+ Conceptually rich and interesting setting

+ Really creative usage of the sound creature mechanic that makes for some fantastic scenes

+ Wonderfully eerie sound design that really elevates the horror

Cons:

- Loses focus after its first part

- Compared to an abstract living soundwave, vice president Beth Pernell is a very dull villain

- The reveal that a character was really just the sound creature tricking somebody felt unnecessary

- The Doctor and Peri were written incredibly insufferably

Doctor Who – The Monthly Adventures

#003. Whispers of Terror ~ 8/10

◆ An Introduction

Calling the Sixth Doctor a controversial incarnation would be stating the blatantly obvious, but he would become the earliest success story of the audio adventures. When BigFinish reworked the character, he would receive some of the greatest scripts, and the best companions, but that’s not for a couple of releases yet. This information might tempt you into skipping his first full audio outing, but you would be missing out on something rather inventive.

People often take the sound design in these adventures for granted, but you’d certainly be paying attention if sound itself were the enemy…

◆ Publisher’s Summary

The Doctor and Peri find themselves in the Museum of Aural Antiquities, where every sound is stored for posterity – from the speeches of Visteen Krane to security service wire taps and interrogation tapes. But they also find an intruder, mysteriously changed recordings, and a dead body.

Before long the Doctor realises that there is more going on than a simple break-in or murder. How can he defeat a creature that is made of pure sound?

◆ The Sixth Doctor

Considering this was written before the grand reworking of this incarnation, I’m surprised at how well-characterised Ol’ Sixie is. Justin Richards has perfectly captured his piercing wit, his stratospheric ego, and that flair for the dramatic which makes him oh-so captivating.

Even before the enforced mellowing of his character, Colin Baker had long been my favourite incarnation of the Doctor. Firing on all cylinders from the very beginning, he delivered an amazing performance in ‘Whispers of Terror’.

He doesn’t shout! People who have to resort to shouting to get what they want are merely demonstrating the inherent porosity of their argument. It’s something that he never, never does… he said whilst shouting like a lunatic. The Doctor claims to have a better sense of direction than a homing pigeon. He’s never all that helpful and forthcoming, which Peri finds very annoying!

◆ Peri Brown

Our resident botanist made pretty sporadic appearances alongside the Sixth Doctor – production were seemingly more interested in her travels with his predecessor – so it’s rather unfortunate that she spent this adventure fading into the background.

Donning the fake accent once more, Nicola Bryant steps back into her role with the utmost ease. I appreciate that she still delivered a solid performance, despite not getting much to do in ‘Whispers of Terror’.

Where’s her sense of adventure? Where’s her curiosity and longing for knowledge? According to Peri, it’s longing to leave.

◆ Sound and Vision

Justin Richards was the first person to take full advantage of the audio medium by making a sentient sound creature that had the ability to manipulate or perfectly reproduce any other sound. He also decided to set this adventure within the Museum of Aural Antiquities: an archive of every recorded sound in existence, featuring everything from government wiretaps to old broadcasts of Liza Tarbuck’s show on BBC Radio 2. Essentially, the sound creature had quite a lot of camouflage.

The sound creature in this adventure was widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his time. He was a very private man who shunned the visual medium, working mainly in the field of audio recording.

Visteen Krane later turned to politics and eventually announced his candidacy for the Presidency. It was widely believed that he would win the election with a landslide majority and name his agent, Beth Pernell, as his running mate. However, finding her ruthless policies and ambitions abhorrent, he planned to record a speech denouncing her. Upon discovering this, Pernell had Krane assassinated… but that wasn’t the end! Although Krane’s body perished, he had earlier used the equipment in his sound suite to transfer his brain waves into the medium of sound.

Several attempts have been made over the years to replicate the basic ideas of this adventure – even the legendary Tim Foley tried with ‘Fight Motif’ – but none of them have been able to replicate the success of this original outing.

◆ Sound Design

This was the first script to really take advantage of the audio medium, which meant Harvey Summers got the opportunity to create a gorgeously experimental soundscape. Every sound and recording is stored within the Museum of Aural Antiquities, but having a sentient sound creature bouncing around the place can really mess with your head. Glitching audio tapes from a recently deceased actor, several murders, and even a spectacular car crash towards the climax of this adventure! Considering ‘Whispers of Terror’ is a twenty-five year old production, it’s aged remarkably well.

Babbling voices drift through the museum as the TARDIS begins materialising. Heavy rain falls outside while two criminals attempt to break in. Gantman claims there are shades of sound as well as light, and demonstrates this by manipulating Krane’s most famous speech; raising the pitch by 20% and making the late actor sound like a nightcore edit! The recording of Krane’s speech starts glitching and distorting throughout the museum. An ominous whistling comes from outside of the sound studio, mere moments before Fotherill is taunted by what sounds like the laugh from a corrupted audio file. Fotherill is electrocuted: several thousand volts spark through his body. The sound creature starts ranting and raving at Dent, demanding answers and causing her to become hysterical with fear. The final recording of Visteen Krane is played several times over; the gun firing, followed by his body falling to the ground with a thud. The sound creature sends itself as a voicemail to Pernell’s car phone… causing her to violently crash the car, killing herself in the process!

◆ Music

There’s a harshness to this score which likely comes from the cheap and cheerful equipment the sound artists were lumbered with back then – the equipment wouldn’t be upgraded for another four releases, if I remember rightly.

Considering this adventure features an entity composed of pure sound, we could always imagine that it was interfering with the score itself. Some great work from Briggsy here.

◆ Conclusion

“If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it!”

Visteen Krane was widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his time, who later turned to politics and eventually announced his candidacy for the Presidency. It was widely believed that he would win the election with a landslide majority and name his agent, Beth Pernell, as his running mate. However, finding her ruthless policies and ambitions abhorrent, he planned to record a speech denouncing her. Upon discovering this, Pernell had Krane assassinated… but he managed to transfer his brain waves into the medium of sound. He would have his revenge!

Justin Richards took the metaphorical bull by the horns and created the first experimental audio adventure, featuring a sentient sound wave. Nowadays, it would seem like the obvious thing to do… but that’s probably because several writers have attempted to replicate the idea. He executed it really well, and even added in some political intrigue with the Pernell plot.

Despite being a production from twenty-five years ago, ‘Whispers of Terror’ has aged like fine wine! This was when BigFinish realised the full potential of the audio medium, and I can highly recommend giving it a listen if you’re curious.

I really liked this story, playing with the medium the story is in is always going to be really fun. The setting works wonderfully on audio, listening backs to tapes just as the characters are is great, and having one of the characters be blind just adds to it even more.

There's also some really fun interplay between the ‘monster’ and the antagonist, and it's these sort of stories where almost everyone sucks (especially if driven by politics) are great to listen to.

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

"Whispers of Terror: A Sonic Thriller for the Sixth Doctor"

Justin Richards crafts an engaging audio drama with Whispers of Terror, a story perfectly suited to the audio medium. Set in the Museum of Aural Antiquities, the adventure takes full advantage of its format, weaving the sound design into the heart of the narrative. With headphones, the setting and sound-based threat feel vividly immersive, drawing the listener into its eerie world.

The plot is tightly paced, establishing the sound-focused danger early on and building a compelling mystery filled with clever twists and strong cliffhangers. The threat, while simple, is highly effective, especially in an audio context. The sound design and music elevate the tension, making key moments feel grand and suspenseful.

Colin Baker is in fine form as the Sixth Doctor, though his portrayal here leans towards the harsher tone of his TV days, which may feel jarring compared to his later, softer Big Finish characterisation. Nicola Bryant’s Peri benefits from more measured writing, coming across as less abrasive than in some of her television stories, even if her dynamic with the Doctor remains prickly.

The guest cast is excellent. Doctor Who veteran Peter Miles (known for The Silurians and Genesis of the Daleks) delivers a strong performance as Gantman, a character whose gravitas matches the story’s weight. Lisa Bowerman (better known as Bernice Summerfield) surprises as the villain, offering a chilling performance that adds depth to the story.

While the build-up is consistently intriguing, the climax feels slightly underwhelming compared to the tension established earlier. Additionally, the intricate plot requires focus to fully grasp, which could challenge more casual listeners.

📝Verdict: 8/10

Despite minor flaws, Whispers of Terror is a clever and atmospheric audio drama, showcasing how Big Finish quickly mastered storytelling tailored for the format. It’s a standout early entry in the Sixth Doctor’s expanded adventures.

Whispers of Terror, in my opinion, holds up a lot better than some of the other early Big Finish monthly range titles.

I think this audio does a great job transitioning us from the more established traits of the Sixth Doctor from the television series into the more complex, dynamic, and interesting version Big Finish transformed the character into. This has some great "egoist" moments for Six but also allows for a bit of depth, as we navigate a story all about politics, lies, and deceit.

In a world where faking footage is becoming an increasingly realistic possibility, this story feels very contemporary in spite of being old enough to vote, so I think that's quite impressive. It was nice to have Nicola Bryant back, and I feel she did a good job too, while the rest of the supporting cast largely enriched the experience. I particularly liked Amber Dent and Visteen Krane as characters and they were both performed well. The ending was a little abrupt for me and doesn't really work in my eyes, but on the whole I enjoyed this audio quite a bit, certainly more than Sirens of Time or Phantasmagoria. This might be the more ideal place to start with Big Finish but even then I'm not sure it is the best option.

Still, it has some cool choices for its sound design and just enough life to the writing that is was a positive experience on the whole, even if I am unlikely to revisit any time soon.