My only criticism is that I felt the ending of the story was a little convoluted with multiple villains and numerous alien species all playing their part. The time travel nature of the narrative really comes into play, exploring the ‘butterfly effect’ and how small changes to the past can have a devastating impact. The earie ‘singing’ that accompanies them is almost haunting and the revelation about how they feed off of temporal anomalies is a really interesting concept. Furthermore, the Temperon has been ominously warning the doctors about mysterious entities called The Sirens of Time and when the eponymous villains emerge, they are nothing short of fantastic. The Knights of Velyshaa become really interesting villains, ravaged by their own greed. Each actor imbues his incarnation with a unique wit and charm and they all bounce off each other in a wonderful way. I loved the interactions between the fifth, sixth and seventh doctors. The final part of the story brings together each of these versions of our favourite Time Lord on Gallifrey, with the help of The Temperon, a benevolent alien creature. In the sixth doctor’s timeline, I was gripped as the ship he is on begins to be pulled towards an exploding ‘wonder’ in space and again the section ends with a cliff hanger where another incarnation of the doctor is seemingly about to perish. Writer Nicholas Briggs continues to increase the tension as we cut back to Gallifrey and find that the Knights of Velyshaa have began to decimate the Time Lords. The mystery deepens as the doctor encounters the same girl who has been present in both part one and two of the story and the ultimate reveal about her character was satisfying and well executed. I was really excited to sink my teeth into more stories with Colin Baker as the doctor and part three of The Sirens of Time did not disappoint. Although perhaps not as fast paced as its predecessor, part two introduces some really interesting characters and a nice amount of tension that kept me on the edge of my seat. As the doctor is captured by Germans, he must pretend to be a spy in a desperate attempt to return to the Tardis, which he doesn’t seem to be able to open. The Tardis lands on a maritime vessel during the first world war and the doctor is separated from his ship. The second part of the story focuses on the fifth doctor and the jarring shift of setting really grabbed my attention. I was hooked after listening to part one, especially as the cliff hanger leaves the doctor’s life in peril! The sound of a crackling fire in the wake of an explosive spaceship crash evokes fantastic imagery and the voice modulation of the robotic ‘drudgers’ makes them feel truly menacing. Unrestricted by the need to create striking visuals on a television budget, Big Finish has the capacity to create stories with amazing scale. As expected, the doctor quickly becomes embroiled in the mystery of the planet and one of the audio medium’s strongest attributes quickly becomes clear - the ability to appeal to the listener’s imagination. McCoy plays one of my favourite incarnations of the doctor and he slips straight back into the role. From here, the first part of the story follows Sylvester McCoy’s seventh doctor as he lands on an unnamed planet and must save a young woman whose pleas for help catch his attention. The story is engrossing from the very first scene as Gallifrey is surrounded and under attack from the ‘Knights of Velyshaa’ and it is revealed that the doctor is somehow involved. The Sirens of Time was the company’s first release and follows the fifth, sixth and seventh doctors as they are each drawn into a mystery unfolding both on Gallifrey and across their personal timeline. I am pleased to say that for Big Finish, the winning formula we have come to love has been present since the very beginning. In the wake of the TV movie which failed to reignite the series, Big Finish reinvigorated Doctor Who in 1999 with everything fans wanted from a continuation of the show the return of favourite characters, new alien worlds/ monsters and gripping adventures
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