The Sirens of Time
Encyclopedia
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 .
To coincide with the release of this new Doctor Who range, a CD was given away free with Doctor Who Magazine #279. Titled 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.
is threatened by a fleet of hostile warships outfitted with technology surpassing even that of the Time Lord
s, 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.
, arrives on Gallifrey
with an urgent message for the President of the Time Lord
s — 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 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.
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 nearby.
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.
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.
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.
Schweiger 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. He threatens 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 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.
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.
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio drama based on the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. The story was written by Nicholas Briggs
Nicholas Briggs
Nicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks. Briggs sometimes uses the pseudonym Arthur Wallis...
and stars Peter Davison
Peter Davison
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
, Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
and Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...
. It was recorded between March 6–7 1999 .
To coincide with the release of this new Doctor Who range, a CD was given away free with Doctor Who Magazine #279. Titled 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.
Synopsis
While GallifreyGallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
is threatened by a fleet of hostile warships outfitted with technology surpassing even that of the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s, the Doctor is dealing with a plot to destroy him in his Fifth
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
, Sixth
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
and Seventh
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
incarnations. Each Doctor faces his own trial alone, before coming together in the final episode to confront the Sirens of Time.
Plot
Vansell, a member of the Celestial Intervention AgencyCelestial Intervention Agency
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....
, arrives on Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
with an urgent message for the President of the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s — 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
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
.
----
The Seventh Doctor
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
hears the cloister bell tolling within the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
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
Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...
and rushes to her rescue. He is waylaid by a cackling hag
Hag
A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as Hansel and Gretel. Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or...
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.
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 nearby.
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
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
prepares to attack a British freighter as the TARDIS materialises on board. The Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
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.
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
Walther Schwieger
Lieutenant Walther Schwieger was a German U-boat commander during the First World War, noted for his role in the sinking of the Lusitania....
with vital information for the Kaiser
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
. 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.
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
RMS Aquitania
RMS Aquitania was a Cunard Line ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 21 April 1913 and sailed on her maiden voyage to New York on 30 May 1914...
, the Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
or the Mauritania
RMS Mauretania (1906)
RMS Mauretania was an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear for the British Cunard Line, and launched on 20 September 1906. At the time, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world. Mauretania became a favourite among...
, 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.
Schweiger 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. He threatens 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
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
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 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
Alexander Fleming
Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy...
. Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
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.
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 Seventh DoctorSeventh DoctorThe Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
(parts 1 & 4) — Sylvester McCoySylvester McCoySylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to... - The Fifth DoctorFifth DoctorThe Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
(parts 2 & 4) — Peter DavisonPeter DavisonPeter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,... - The Sixth DoctorSixth DoctorThe Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
(parts 3 & 4) — Colin BakerColin BakerColin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to... - Commander Raldeth — Andrew Fettes
- Coordinator Vansell — Anthony Keetch
- The President — Michael WadeMichael WadeMichael Wade was a Canadian actor. Born in Avondale, Newfoundland, Wade was best known for playing Lockwood in Nicholas Briggs's critically acclaimed Reeltime Pictures production of the Auton trilogy...
- Elenya — Sarah Mowat
- Ruthley — Maggie StablesMaggie StablesMaggie 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.-Career:...
- Sancroff — Colin McIntyre
- Commandant — John Wadmore
- Lt Zenther — John Wadmore
- Captain SchweigerWalther SchwiegerLieutenant Walther Schwieger was a German U-boat commander during the First World War, noted for his role in the sinking of the Lusitania....
— Mark GatissMark GatissMark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock.... - Schmidt — Andrew Fettes
- Helen — Sarah Mowat
- The Temperon — Nicholas BriggsNicholas BriggsNicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks. Briggs sometimes uses the pseudonym Arthur Wallis...
- Ellie — Sarah Mowat
- Pilot Azimendah — John Wadmore
- Captain — Mark Gatiss
- Delegate — Nicholas PeggNicholas PeggNicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.A graduate of the University of Exeter, Pegg trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth...
- Sub-commander — John Wadmore
- Knight Commander Lyena — Sarah Mowat
- Knight 2 — Mark GatissMark GatissMark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
Continuity
- The Sirens of Time feed off changes in history in the same way as the TimewyrmTimewyrm: GenesysTimewyrm: Genesys is an original Doctor Who novel, published by Virgin Publishing in their New Adventures range of Doctor Who novels...
who featured in the Seventh DoctorSeventh DoctorThe Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
novel range The Virgin New AdventuresVirgin New AdventuresThe Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
. - The Temperon may be related to the Chronovores first introduced in The Time MonsterThe Time MonsterThe Time Monster is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 May to 24 June 1972.- Synopsis :...
. - Co-ordinator Vansell returns in The Apocalypse ElementThe Apocalypse ElementThe Apocalypse Element is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It forms the second serial in the Dalek Empire arc, following on from events in The Genocide Machine...
, NeverlandNeverland (Doctor Who audio)Neverland is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
and in the Doctor Who Unbound play, He Jests at Scars...He Jests at Scars...He Jests at Scars... is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The Doctor Who Unbound dramas pose a series of "What if...?" questions.-Plot:What if.....
He was previously mentioned in the novel Divided LoyaltiesDivided Loyalties (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...
. - The Knights of Velyshaa and Drudgers return in Big Finish's Dalek Empire audio series.
- The Doctors share a moment of telepathic contact first seen in The Three Doctors, accompanied a sound effect also introduced in that story.
- These three Doctors team up with the Eighth DoctorEighth DoctorThe Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
to defeat the Daleks in The Four DoctorsThe Four DoctorsThe Four Doctors is a Big Finish Productions audiobook based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is free to subscribers of The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories.-Plot:...
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