FACTOID # 72: There are 22 countries where more than half the population is illiterate. Fifteen of them are in Africa.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS    Advanced view

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > The Sirens of Time
Big Finish Productions audio play
The Sirens of Time
Series Doctor Who
Release number 1
Featuring Fifth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
Seventh Doctor
Writer Nicholas Briggs
Director Nicholas Briggs
Producer(s) Gary Russell
Jason Haigh-Ellery
Executive producer(s) Stephen Cole
Production code 7Z
Set between Fifth Doctor:
 The Five Doctors and
 Warriors of the Deep
Sixth Doctor:
 The Ultimate Foe and
 Time and the Rani
Seventh Doctor
 Survival and
 the television movie
Release date July 1999

The Sirens of Time is the first Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The story was written by Nicholas Briggs and stars Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. It was recorded between March 6-7 1999 . Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces audio plays released straight to compact disc, based on British cult science fiction properties. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... The Sixth Doctor is the name given to the sixth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... -1... Nicholas Briggs, right, in a scene from Myth Runner with Michael Wisher. ... Jason Haigh-Ellery is a director of a number of successful companies including a publishing firm, an internet company, and a direct mail company. ... Stephen Cole (born 1971) is an author of childrens books and science fiction. ... The Big Finish Doctor Who chronology lists the intended placement of the Big Finish Productions line of audio adventures based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Five Doctors was a special movie-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programmes twentieth anniversary. ... Warriors of the Deep is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from January 5 to January 13, 1984. ... The Ultimate Foe is the generally accepted title for a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from November 29 to December 6, 1986. ... Time and the Rani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 7 to September 28, 1987. ... Survival is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from November 22 to December 6, 1989. ... Doctor Who (also unofficially known as Enemy Within by fans, as labeled by the films executive producer Philip Segal) is a television movie based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces audio plays released straight to compact disc, based on British cult science fiction properties. ... This is a list of audio plays based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who produced by Big Finish Productions. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... Nicholas Briggs, right, in a scene from Myth Runner with Michael Wisher. ... Peter Davison (born 13 April 1951) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriots All Creatures Great and Small and as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1981 to 1984. ... For the Wales international football player see Colin Baker (Welsh footballer) Colin Baker (born London, June 8, 1943) is an English actor who is best known for playing the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986. ... Sylvester McCoy (born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith August 20, 1943) is a Scottish actor. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ...


To co-incide with the release of this new Doctor Who range, a CD was given away free with Doctor Who Magazine 279. Entitled Talking ‘Bout My Regeneration this documentary considered the history of the show in audio and featured behind the scenes interviews with the cast and production crew.


Like all Doctor Who spin-off media, its canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Contents

Synopsis

While Gallifrey is threatened by a fleet of hostile warships outfitted with technology surpassing even that of the Time Lords, the Doctor is dealing with a plot to destroy him in his Fifth, Sixth and Seventh incarnations. Each Doctor faces his own trial alone, before coming together in the final episode to confront the Sirens of Time. Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Doctor Who. ... The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... The Sixth Doctor is the name given to the sixth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... -1...


Plot

Vansell, a member of the Celestial Intervention Agency, arrives on Gallifrey with an urgent message for the President of the Time Lords — an invasion fleet threatens the planet and Time Lord technology will not be able to repel them. History has somehow been distorted, and the only clue is the artron energy of a Time Lord in the distortion... the energy belongs to the Doctor. The Celestial Intervention Agency is a fictional organization of Time Lords in the universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Doctor Who. ...


The Seventh Doctor hears the cloister bell tolling within the TARDIS and changes the coordinate setting. A message comes through from the Time Lords but is too garbled for the Doctor to make out its content. He then hears a mysterious sound coming from outside the TARDIS, and exits to investigate. He hears a woman, Elenya, drowning in quicksand and rushes to her rescue. He is waylaid by a cackling hag who says both he and Elenya will die. Arriving at the quicksand, the Doctor wonders why the hag had not tried to save Elenya, and takes her back to the TARDIS.-1... The current TARDIS prop as seen at the BBC Wales reception in 2005. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, The Hag, August 1890. ...


The hag, Ruthley, returns to attend to a crippled old man named Sancroft, her prisoner. Over a communicator, she reports to a commandant who questions her over ion trails he has detected in her sector but she denies knowledge of them. At the TARDIS, the Doctor is not able to enter his ship. He asks Elenya how she arrived on the world. Sensing some familiarity about her he asks if they have met before. Elenya says that she crash landed on the planet. They set out to search for the hag's residence, as another space craft crash lands near by.


Hearing the crash, Sancroft asks Ruthley if the planet's shields are failing, but she then taunts him that no one is coming to his rescue. The Doctor and Elenya see a ship that somehow makes it through the shields. Ruthley is heard communicating with an alien voice on the ship, which informs her that bio-assassin cultures will activate on landing. The Doctor and Elenya desperately dive for cover as a further ship makes a landing nearby. They arrive at its crash site as something alive emerges. Elenya thinks she is looking at a dying creature, but the Doctor believes the opposite — it is something being born.


Ruthley speaks to a planetary security robot, a Drudger, and commands it to eliminate the Doctor and Elenya, but it tells her that that procedure is not permitted. Ruthley, talking to herself, says that does not matter because all will be dead soon. The Doctor and Elenya come across the robot which commences to do a mind scan which knocks them out. The Doctor awakes to find himself with Sancroft, but Elenya is still unconscious. He is surprised that the Doctor is not afraid of him.


The Drudger reports to Ruthley that it has found bio-engineered life forms emerging from the wreck. The robot confronts the life form and commands it to surrender, it reply is to open fire. Ruthley comes to the cell and tells them they cannot escape, as in the distance they hear the Drudgers being destroyed. Ruthley cackles and tells them that "they" will kill all of them. The Doctor asks if there is anywhere in the house they can all hide, and Sancroft suggests Ruthley's bedroom.


Thinking she has done a deal with them, Ruthley approaches the bio-assassins and tells them that infamous Sancroft, First Knight of Velyshaa, is there for ready them to kill. However, the bio-assassins eliminate her so there will be no witnesses. The bio-assassin plays a recorded message — Sancroft has been sentenced to death for war crimes against the people of Calfadoria. When the Doctor pleads with the assassin to spare their lives, it tells him that it has no quarrel with anyone but Sancroft. However there must be no witnesses, and the assassin opens fire...


A submarine prepares to attack a British freighter as the TARDIS materialises on board. The Fifth Doctor disembarks searching for some sort of distortion. He hears a voice of Time Lord calling to him to return to the TARDIS because of the "destruction of time". However, he is unable to get back inside his craft. A woman arrives and tells him that she will take him to her Captain, just as the submarine starts its attack. USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine Alvin in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents. ... The Fifth Doctor is the name given to the fifth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ...


The submarine crew spot two survivors clinging to a box floating in the debris of the remains of the ship. The Doctor and the woman, Helen, are brought on board and a thrown in a cell. The craft submerges as a British destroyer enters the area.


The Doctor demands to see Captain Schweiger with vital information for the Kaiser. The Doctor pretends to be a German spy, telling him that proof of his identity is in an airtight crate now floating in the sea. The Captain is unwilling to retrieve the crate because of the British ships in the area. When returned the cell, the Doctor notices evidence of a time distortion. One of the crew, Schmidt, begins to attack the Doctor and the voice of a Time Lord is heard urging on the attack. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...


On Gallifrey, Vansell is reprimanded for his brutish plan by the President. However, Vansell insists that the Doctor must be stopped, whatever the cost. On the submarine, Helen tends to the Doctor's wounds after his fight as the alarms on the craft go off. A vessel, the Aquitania, the Lusitania or the Mauritania, has been sighted, and the submarine prepares to attack it. Vansell telepathically contacts Schmidt and again tells him to kill the Doctor. He goes to the cell with a pistol, and the Doctor tries to reason with him. The observing Time Lords argue over whether to kill the Doctor but Vansell proceeds to give the order to Schmidt to kill, who then shoots. The Aquitania was an ocean liner built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, for the Cunard Line. ... RMS Lusitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner, sister ship of the Mauretania, that was built by the John Brown & Co. ...


Schmidt hears the shot and rushes to investigate. The Doctor is still alive, and Helen taking Schmidt's gun shoots and kills the German. The Doctor takes the gun from her, he has only suffered a shoulder wound. Threatening to shoot Schweiger unless he turns the submarine around. Schweiger does not believe the Doctor could shoot him, but Helen takes the gun and displays more determination. Schweiger turns the submarine around and it heads towards the last known position of the TARDIS. The Doctor however is still unable to reunite with his companions inside the TARDIS and realises that the Time Lords wish him to be dead...


On Gallifrey, Vansell discovers that a female presence exists inhabiting the vortex at each of the nexus points at which the Doctor has been observed. He has found a further incident involving the Sixth Doctor and the legendary time beast, the Temperon, in the Kurgon system. He pleads with the president for more power, but the President announces that the transduction barriers have been breached and the aliens have landed on Gallifrey. They call themselves the Knights of Velyshaa and have demanded an unconditional surrender... The Sixth Doctor is the name given to the sixth incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ...


The Sixth Doctor finds himself at some kind of conference on a space ship where a waitress seems very familiar to him. The ship, the Edifice, is investigating a spatial anomaly known as the Kurgon Wonder. However, a particle field quickly surrounds the ship — the Doctor identifies it as a shard of time distortion. He hears voice saying "help me", but is unable to identify the source. With the exception of the Doctor, a waitress named Elly and an android pilot, everyone on board is aged to death by the disruption.


The Doctor tells Elly he believes the TARDIS has crashed into the Kurgon Wonder. They are attacked by some kind of monster but the pilot arrives and shoots it. Time distortion begins to make the hull of the ship disintegrate. The Doctor realises that the ship is still heading into the Wonder through momentum. Analysis of the monsters reveals that they are created by accelerated evolution of bacteria and viruses.


On Gallifrey, the Knights shoot dead the President, their technology inhibiting any further regenerations. Vansell is also shot but manages to send a final message through the pilot's positronic brain: "do not free the Temperon."


Elly reveals that she is part of an organisation dedicated to freeing a being they believe is trapped in the Kurgon Wonder. The Doctor deduces from the presences of Temperon particles that the Wonder is in fact the legendary Temperon trapped at the moment of its death. As the pilot is about to relay the Time Lord's message to the Doctor, Elly shoots it. Afterwards, the Doctor finds himself back in the TARDIS at the centre of the Wonder. The Doctor attempts to dematerialise which will also free the Temperon. The Temperon tells the Doctor that he has released the Knights of Velyshaa. As the Doctor is smothered by the Temperon it issues a final warning: "Beware the Sirens of Time..."


The Temperon absorbs the Doctor into itself and continues its warning about the Sirens of Time. Deposited on Gallifrey, he finds himself in the Panopticon alongside his fifth and seventh incarnations, also brought by the Temperon. They enter contact to share their experiences. They realise the girl each of them encountered was in fact the same person.


One of the Knights of Velyshaa welcomes Knight Commander Lyena to Gallifrey in the name of Sancroff. They detect Time Lord life signs and force the Doctors to flee. Escaping into the lower parts of Capitol, they start to search for the Temperon.


The Sixth and Seventh Doctors observe a Knight out of its armour, its flesh is rotted and diseased. Soon they find the restrained Temperon, but are captured by the Knights. All three Doctors are brought before Lyena who reveals that subjugated Time Lords are being used to revitalise the Knights.


She proceeds to reveal what happened next at each of the nexus points. The Seventh Doctor rerouted the planetary shields to repel the bio-assassins and save Sancroff. The Knights one day found him to inspire their plans of conquest. The Fifth Doctor's actions prevented the sinking of the Lusitania. Although the outcome of the First World War was not greatly affected, a common criminal on board the ship who should have died went on to murder Alexander Fleming. Penicillin was never discovered and in 1956 a plague devastated the Earth. This in turn prevented future humans from defeating the Knights of Velyshaa in battle. When the Sixth Doctor freed the Temperon, its destruction allowed the Knights to gain the powers of Time Travel. Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. ... Penicillin nucleus Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN) refers to a group of β-lactam antibiotics used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms. ...


However, Lyena pleads with the Doctor to return in time and reverse all the changes. It seems that the destruction of the Temperon caused a disease which affected all the Knights. The last remaining TARDIS on Gallifrey is too damaged to allow them to use it. When they suggest they should release the Temperon, Lyena immediately refuses and orders the Doctors be arrested. The Temperon warns the Doctors to beware the Sirens of Time, and to beware Lyena.


Grabbing a weapon from a Knight guard, they use it to release the Temperon from its restraints. It tells the Doctors that Elenya, Helen, Ellie and Lyena are all the same, manifestations of the Sirens of Time — a race that feeds on the energies of chaos, distortions and disruptions in time. Unable to disrupt directly, they lure others to do so. If the Doctors obey the Sirens call more than once, they will be forever trapped in their thrall, but Lyena threatens to kill the Fifth Doctor if they disobey her. The Temperon tells the Doctors if they free it, it will go back in time and destroy the Sirens at the beginning of time. However, they realise he cannot destroy the Sirens or he would have already done so. The Temperon admits this, but he could contain them.


Renewing her threat to kill the Fifth Doctor, the Sixth Doctor uses his pragmatism to see through the threat and releases the Temperon. Sancroff is killed by a bio-assassin, the Lusitania is destroyed by the German submarine. Vansell's TARDIS arrives on Gallifrey but nothing is out of the ordinary, and he departs.


The Doctors arrive at the nexus point where the Seventh Doctor met Elenya for the first time, but ignore her cries for help. They see the hag Ruthley but tell her they were never there. The Doctors depart, each to their own time stream.


Cast

  • The Doctor (parts 1 & 4) — Sylvester McCoy
  • The Doctor (parts 2 & 4) — Peter Davison
  • The Doctor (parts 3 & 4) — Colin Baker
  • Commander Raldeth — Andrew Fettes
  • Coordinator Vansell — Anthony Keetch
  • The President — Michael Wade
  • Elenya — Sarah Mowat
  • Ruthley — Maggie Stables
  • Sancroff — Colin McIntyre
  • Commandant — John Wadmore
  • Lt Zenther — John Wadmore
  • Captain Schweiger — Mark Gatiss
  • Schmidt — Andrew Fettes
  • Helen — Sarah Mowat
  • The Temperon — Nicholas Briggs
  • Ellie — Sarah Mowat
  • Pilot Azimendah — John Wadmore
  • Captain — Mark Gatiss
  • Delegate — Nicholas Pegg
  • Sub-commander — John Wadmore
  • Knight Commander Lyena — Sarah Mowat
  • Knight 2 — Mark Gatiss

Sylvester McCoy (born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith August 20, 1943) is a Scottish actor. ... Peter Davison (born 13 April 1951) is an English actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriots All Creatures Great and Small and as the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1981 to 1984. ... For the Wales international football player see Colin Baker (Welsh footballer) Colin Baker (born London, June 8, 1943) is an English actor who is best known for playing the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986. ... Michael Wade (born 30 October, 1944 in Avondale, Newfoundland, Canada) is an actor. ... Maggie Stables, who voices Dr Evelyn Smythe Maggie Stables is a British actress who plays the part of the companion Evelyn Smythe in a range of audio dramas by Big Finish Productions based on the BBC television series Doctor Who. ... Colin MacIntyre is a Scottish singer, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and (as yet) unpublished author. ... Mark Gatiss (born October 17, 1966) is an English actor and writer. ... Nicholas Briggs, right, in a scene from Myth Runner with Michael Wisher. ... Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer. ... Mark Gatiss (born October 17, 1966) is an English actor and writer. ...

Continuity

-1... The Virgin New Adventures (often referred to simply as NAs within fandom) were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, continuing the story of the series from where the television programme had left off. ... The Time Monster is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 20 to June 24, 1972. ... The Apocalypse Element is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... NeverLand is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Divided Loyalties is a BBC Books original novel written by Gary Russell and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... This is a list of audio plays based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who produced by Big Finish Productions. ... The Three Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in four weekly parts from the December 30, 1972 to January 20, 1973. ...

External links

  • Big Finish Productions - The Sirens of Time
  • The Sirens of Time at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
  • DiscContinuity Guide - The Sirens of Time

Reviews


Outpost Gallifrey is a fan website for the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ...

 v  d  e Fifth Doctor audio dramas
The Sirens of TimePhantasmagoriaThe Land of the DeadRed DawnWinter for the Adept
The Mutant Phase • Loups-Garoux • The Eye of the ScorpionPrimevalExcelis DawnsSpare Parts
The Church and the CrownNo Place Like HomeNekromanteiaCreatures of BeautyOmegaZagreus
The Axis of InsanityThe Roof of the WorldThe GameThree's a CrowdThe Council of NicaeaSingularity
The KingmakerThe GatheringCircular TimeRenaissance of the DaleksExotron & Urban MythsSon of the Dragon • The Mind's Eye
 v  d  e Sixth Doctor audio dramas
SlipbackThe Sirens of TimeWhispers of TerrorThe Marian ConspiracyThe Spectre of Lanyon Moor
The Apocalypse ElementThe Holy Terror • Bloodtide • Project: TwilightThe One Doctor • The Ratings War
Excelis RisingThe Maltese Penguin...ishReal TimeThe SandmanJubileeDoctor Who and the Pirates
Project: LazarusDavrosZagreusThe WormeryArrangements for War • Medicinal Purposes
Her Final Flight • The Juggernauts • Catch-1782 • Thicker than Water • Cryptobiosis • Pier Pressure
The Nowhere PlaceThe ReapingYear of the PigI.D. & Urgent callsThe Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box100
 v  d  e Seventh Doctor audio dramas
The Sirens of TimeThe FearmongerThe Genocide MachineThe Fires of Vulcan
The Shadow of the ScourgeLast of the TitansDust BreedingColditzDeath Comes to TimeExcelis Decays
The Rapture • Bang-Bang-a-Boom! • The Dark FlameProject: Lazarus • Flip-Flop • MasterZagreusThe Harvest
DreamtimeUnregenerate!LIVE 34Night ThoughtsThe SettlingRedNo Man's LandReturn of the DaleksNocturneValhallaFrozen Time

  Results from FactBites:
 
DiscContinuity: 'The Sirens of Time' (1439 words)
The Temperon, a 'distant cousin' of the Chronovores, is a legendary creature known to the Time Lords and the Sirens of Time.
However, 'The Sirens of Time' cannot 'belong' to the seventh Doctor or the sixth in view of the events in [the later audio tape] 'The Apocalypse Element' specifically with regard to the death in that adventure of the President.
This now means that all three of the Doctors featured in 'The Sirens of Time' are taken to Gallifrey in their own futures (and which now makes sense of Romana's cryptic comment in 'The Apocalypse Element' that the sixth Doctor is the 'wrong' Doctor).
The Sirens of Time - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (145 words)
The Sirens of Time is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
While Gallifrey is threatened by a fleet of hostile warships outfitted with technology surpassing even that of the Time Lords, the Doctor is dealing with a plot to destroy him in his Fifth, Sixth and Seventh incarnations.
Each of the Doctors faces his own trial alone, and they eventually come together in the final chapter to confront the Sirens of Time.
  More results at FactBites »


 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments
Please enter the 5-letter protection code

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms.