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Big Finish: Monthly Range #3
Doctor Who: Whispers of Terror
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 interrrogation 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
Chronological Placement: This story takes place between the television adventures, Revelation of the Daleks and The Trial of a Time Lord.
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
Chronological Placement: This story takes place between the television adventures, Revelation of the Daleks and The Trial of a Time Lord.
2 pages, Audio CD
First published November 1, 1999
1 person is currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
Justin Richards
331 books241 followersJustin Richards is a British writer. He has written many spin off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and he is Creative Director for the BBC Books range. He has also written for television, contributing to Five's soap opera Family Affairs. He is also the author of a series of crime novels for children about the Invisible Detective, and novels for older children. His Doctor Who novel The Burning was placed sixth in the Top 10 of SFX magazine's "Best SF/Fantasy novelisation or TV tie-in novel" category of 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
January 9, 2019
An early Big Finish audio adventure with The Sixth Doctor and Peri, it really fits in seamlessly with their characteristics of Season 22.
The pair find themselves at a Museum of Aural Antiquities, where every sound is stored for posterity.
The story really fits this incarnation of The Doctor and makes perfect use of the audio medium to tell the story.
A great little mystery as the recordings appear to have changed, this really does feel like a televised adventure.
The cast also includes Peter Miles as the Museums creator and its fun to hear Lisa Bowerman amongst the supporting cast.
Big Finish will later expand The Sixth Doctor and give Colin Baker a chance to expand the character into a fans favourite, but this is a great starting point!
The pair find themselves at a Museum of Aural Antiquities, where every sound is stored for posterity.
The story really fits this incarnation of The Doctor and makes perfect use of the audio medium to tell the story.
A great little mystery as the recordings appear to have changed, this really does feel like a televised adventure.
The cast also includes Peter Miles as the Museums creator and its fun to hear Lisa Bowerman amongst the supporting cast.
Big Finish will later expand The Sixth Doctor and give Colin Baker a chance to expand the character into a fans favourite, but this is a great starting point!
January 30, 2024
"Something grand and theatrical from the old school of acting no doubt, loud, bombastic, not my sort of thing really." - The Doctor
October 6, 2025
A full cast audio drama featuring Colin Baker as the Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri. When our intrepid time travellers arrive at a museum where sounds are recorded for posterity they soon encounter something sinister
The idea of a creature that's made of pure sound is a nice concept, but sadly this dull story never makes good use of such a great idea. A real wasted opportunity.
The idea of a creature that's made of pure sound is a nice concept, but sadly this dull story never makes good use of such a great idea. A real wasted opportunity.
April 15, 2019
Really enjoyed this one.
Justin Richards never lets me down on his writing skills and I enjoyed the concept of this by using a sound alien.
I also liked how he made a reference to the Good soldiers play which will be later used in Theatre of War as a heavy plot line for Benny and Brax.
Justin Richards never lets me down on his writing skills and I enjoyed the concept of this by using a sound alien.
I also liked how he made a reference to the Good soldiers play which will be later used in Theatre of War as a heavy plot line for Benny and Brax.
December 15, 2013
Whispers of Terror was the earliest actually entertaining audio, for me. I felt like Sirens of Time, while it did bring the 5th, 6th, and 7th doctors back well, was just plain old boring, and Phantasmagoria was alright, but again just a bit boring. Justin Richards, however was quite smart and really took advantage of the "Audio Medium" by making a creature based purely around sound, with no form or image, just sound waves, and ended up with a wonderfully creepy audio. It did have a somewhat underwhelming twist, it still worked really well and made for a good audio, with an interesting ending. Also something I thought Big Finish has improved upon is the relationship between Six and Peri. While I loved both of them on the show, their bickering and attitude towards each other could occasionally sound quite hostile and unfriendly, but from what I have seen in this audio as well as others is a improvement on their relationship, without removing the wonderful snark and bickering they can share between each other. You know they like each other and are not enemies, but you can also tell they like to tease each other and its just quite entertaining and nice. Overall I would definitely recommend this audio, especially for a first time Big Finish listener!
Read
January 2, 2024Currently updating my reads for the end of 2023, I listened to this and a bunch of other Big Finish Doctor tales (some twice) towards the end of the year, mostly because I was too busy thinking about other things to focus on new stories and the comfort of the familiar voices was a welcome relief from other stresses. Unfortunately I have left it too long to give any story-specific details, but I will inevitably listen to these many more times in future and will hopefully be able to say something more substantial. Suffice it to say that these are just excellent. Production quality is top notch and the storylines are as good and sometimes even better than the TV episodes.
March 9, 2023
Not really one for me! I love the 6th doctor and peri together but this story didn't feel like doctor who, no matter how much they tried, it just felt annoying and repetitive.
July 15, 2015
The Doctor on Peri land inside a museum collecting audio files where the staff are reviewing the speeches of a politician who recently committed suicide. But when people sneak in to change the content of those speeches and then one of them is killed under mysterious circumstances, can the Doctor and Peri exonerate themselves and solve the deeper mystery?
This is the first adventure to acknowledge the medium of the audio adventures and, given Colin Baker's tendency to expound, there's a certain amount of satire of his performance as the Doctor. Additionally his relationship with Peri is strong in this adventure as Nicola Bryant is given sharper lines than she received as a companion on television. While the relationship remains acrimonious, there's an underlying love and Peri isn't as whiny as she was in the series.
The story, on the other hand, is pretty predictable. Once you're able to confirm the killer's identity, the underlying plot becomes pretty obvious. Regardless though, Baker and Bryant are having a great deal of fun and it carries through to their performance. I look forward to the next volume.
This is the first adventure to acknowledge the medium of the audio adventures and, given Colin Baker's tendency to expound, there's a certain amount of satire of his performance as the Doctor. Additionally his relationship with Peri is strong in this adventure as Nicola Bryant is given sharper lines than she received as a companion on television. While the relationship remains acrimonious, there's an underlying love and Peri isn't as whiny as she was in the series.
The story, on the other hand, is pretty predictable. Once you're able to confirm the killer's identity, the underlying plot becomes pretty obvious. Regardless though, Baker and Bryant are having a great deal of fun and it carries through to their performance. I look forward to the next volume.
January 30, 2011
Audio adventure with the sixth Doctor and Peri. With some hard polishing the script would make a good Doctor Who story. On the plus side it's an interesting idea for a while. On the minus side it's poorly mic'd (resulting in hissy s's and f's and machine voices that breathe) and has too many writing problems: Many listeners will correctly assume what is indeed going on. (So much for mystery or wonder, or replay value.) I stopped counting the fourth time some character did something for no reason other than the author wanted it to happen and couldn't be bothered to contrive something plausible. It's particularly aggravating when followed by a scene that does a variation of something that happened before or during the nonsense part; it's like the script wasn't edited.
April 25, 2008
One of my favorites, and Colin Baker's first big finish audio. I really like the story of the living sound wave. Not only is it original, but it lends itself perfectly to the audio medium. As for Colin and Nicola, this is finally their chance to show how good their tenure on the TV show could have been. They are a resounding success here and it's simply a joy to listen to.
Read
April 8, 2009Whispers of Terror did make something special of the audio environment, with the Museum of Aural Antiquities being a place which for obvious reasons loses little by being portrayed through sound alone rather than vision as well. The Six/Peri banter was pleasantly nostalgic too. Sadly the plot was fairly obvious right from the word go, with a silly twist at the very end.
July 16, 2013
The basic concept here is very cool, especially for this format - a creature that exists purely as sound starts preying on the archives in an aural museum. The political plot overlaid on this conceit is rather convoluted and obvious at the same time and it's hard to tell apart many of the supporting characters, making for a rather muddy, muddled experience.
January 7, 2009
A good, suspenseful story that makes great use of the audio medium. I found it a bit heavy-handed. It features the 6th Doctor at his most bombastic, which is an interesting contrast to his mellowed demeanor in more recent audios.
September 8, 2021
Neither my favourite Doctor, nor my favourite companion. However, it's an enjoyable story that feels more crime thriller than Whovian adventure and the idea of a living creature in a sound wave that's able to interact with the environment and exact its revenge is certainly an interesting one.
December 17, 2023
Did this audio drama from 1999 predict politically motivated deepfakes?
October 9, 2025
Whispers of Terror is a very impressive debut for the 6th Doctor on Big Finish. Its ambitions are admittedly curbed by the limitations that all early Big Finish releases faced, but still managed to be an enjoyable listen. What I really loved about it was how perfectly recaptured the relationship between the sixth Doctor and Peri was. In modern releases it’s so much more tame and at times annoyingly sweet, but here it feels like a story ripped straight out of season 22 of the classic series. The Doctor is as verbose, overbearing and bombastic as ever; while Peri humours him while showing affection for his heroic and protective nature. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant slip into their roles effortlessly and that truly was something to admire right from the opening scene.
The supporting cast are all excellent too, with strong performances from Dr Who icons such as Peter Miles & Lisa Bowerman. The performances were very much the strength here and I found myself engaging more with that than I did the narrative itself. The cast is relatively small and for a story that runs for little more than an hour and a half, that was definitely a wise decision. The shortfall of the story itself is sadly the plot. While an impressive idea, and capitalising on the fact that this is a story on audio; the premise is only about 45 minutes worth of material. Unsurprisingly, very little happens in the first two episodes, bar the introduction of characters and the increasing presence of the villain. There was also the fact that episode one eases you into the storyline, and then part two throws about two dozen plot points at you and expects you to follow them all. Thankfully episode three is practically a recap, and by the final episode you catch up with whats happening.
Conceptually the idea of a villain made entirely of sound is a great idea, but in practice it is no surprise you run out of things for them to do pretty quickly. He is obviously the stimulus for pretty much all the cliffhangers, but once the Doctor works out what/who he is; nothing really amounts of it until the end. It is very odd to have your terrifying villain effectively making menacing prank calls for an episode because you have nothing for him to do. I think the political aspect of the drama was played very subtly and felt akin to a lot of books and dramas from 50s Hollywood, something that was very interesting. It imbeds a subtle political thriller into a horror story really well, but it was just the rapid pacing of the first two episodes that made it slightly less enjoyable.
The pacing isn’t the writers fault of course, as it is simply the fact that in the early days; Big Finish episodes were incredibly short. It was no surprise that the first two parts were laden with exposition and the story only took time to breathe and develop plot points in the latter half. Were it not for that then this story could easily be an all-time classic. The story is very limited in its background music which makes a lot of sense narratively, and the lack did actually enhance the claustrophobic atmosphere; something that made visualising events easier. The major element of the story is the sound design, rather important here given it is what creates the villain. It is done in a very ambient way, and the screeching enhancements during moments of terror are what really give the story the horror aspect. It is a shame this inventive villain is pushed to the background halfway through the story, but when present, is a very well-executed idea.
The supporting cast are all excellent too, with strong performances from Dr Who icons such as Peter Miles & Lisa Bowerman. The performances were very much the strength here and I found myself engaging more with that than I did the narrative itself. The cast is relatively small and for a story that runs for little more than an hour and a half, that was definitely a wise decision. The shortfall of the story itself is sadly the plot. While an impressive idea, and capitalising on the fact that this is a story on audio; the premise is only about 45 minutes worth of material. Unsurprisingly, very little happens in the first two episodes, bar the introduction of characters and the increasing presence of the villain. There was also the fact that episode one eases you into the storyline, and then part two throws about two dozen plot points at you and expects you to follow them all. Thankfully episode three is practically a recap, and by the final episode you catch up with whats happening.
Conceptually the idea of a villain made entirely of sound is a great idea, but in practice it is no surprise you run out of things for them to do pretty quickly. He is obviously the stimulus for pretty much all the cliffhangers, but once the Doctor works out what/who he is; nothing really amounts of it until the end. It is very odd to have your terrifying villain effectively making menacing prank calls for an episode because you have nothing for him to do. I think the political aspect of the drama was played very subtly and felt akin to a lot of books and dramas from 50s Hollywood, something that was very interesting. It imbeds a subtle political thriller into a horror story really well, but it was just the rapid pacing of the first two episodes that made it slightly less enjoyable.
The pacing isn’t the writers fault of course, as it is simply the fact that in the early days; Big Finish episodes were incredibly short. It was no surprise that the first two parts were laden with exposition and the story only took time to breathe and develop plot points in the latter half. Were it not for that then this story could easily be an all-time classic. The story is very limited in its background music which makes a lot of sense narratively, and the lack did actually enhance the claustrophobic atmosphere; something that made visualising events easier. The major element of the story is the sound design, rather important here given it is what creates the villain. It is done in a very ambient way, and the screeching enhancements during moments of terror are what really give the story the horror aspect. It is a shame this inventive villain is pushed to the background halfway through the story, but when present, is a very well-executed idea.
January 15, 2021
6thドクターとペリの物語。
Part1
音声記録を収集所蔵する博物館の館内に到着したドクターとペリ。探索をはじめた途端に警報が鳴り響き、ドクターとペリは逃げ去る女性を目撃。あとに男の遺体が残されていた。男の死因を調べていると、バークレイ刑事に容疑者と勘違いされ、取り調べを受けることに。セキュリティカメラの映像から判明した死んだ男の名はファザネルといい、昨夜デントという女と共に博物館に侵入し、どういう方法でかは不明だが先日死亡した元俳優で大統領候補をする予定だったクレーンのスピーチのフレーズや話し方の録音に変更が加えている。手がかりを得るためにキュレーターのガントマンと犯行現場に赴くペリ。そこでひどく怯えて逃げてきたデントと遭遇する。
Part2
ドクターは音の生命体が博物館に潜んでいるのではないかと推理する。ペリとバークレイ刑事は半信半疑だ。だがドクターは音の生命体に逃げられないよう、博物館の通信網を完全に外部と遮断するよう指示。そして、あることを確認したいとドクターはキュレーターのガントマンを探しにいく。すると、ペリとバークレイに外部と通信を繋ぐようドクターから無線連絡が入る。さっき言ったことと全く違うと反論すると無線のドクターはさっき言ったことは間違いだったという。これまで間違いを認めたことなど一度としてないドクターのこの言葉にペリは不審を抱く。
Part3
サウンドの中に宿る生命体の正体をつきとめたドクター。目的が復讐であることも知る、これ以上の犠牲者を出さないためにCDの中に封じ込める。しかし、名優クレーンのトリビュート番組を放送することにこだわるクレーンのエージェント、ペネールとのと番組プロデューサーのスタンガードがディスクをすり替える。放送電波に乗ってサウンドの中の生命体が外に逃げ出し、災いをもたらすことを止めようとドクターは放送を阻止しようとする。
Part4
名優クレーンの死の真相とその裏に隠された恐ろしい陰謀をつきとめたドクター。殺人犯を捉え、陰謀を阻止するためサウンドの中の生命体と協力する。
感想
オーディオドラマの特性を存分に活かしたストーリーだと思うが、英語弱者の私には同時に展開する複数の会話やどれが誰の声なのかを聞き分けるのはなかなかの難行苦行だった。前半でさんざん煽られたホラー感からすれば、謎解きの点ではやや拍子抜けの感は否めない。聴いているこちら側には真犯人はすでに明らかになっていたので、ドクターが突き止めるくだりが長くて、早く気がつけよーとイライラさせられるのがちょっと残念だったりもした。しかし、6thドクターの皮肉っぽくてちょっとイラッ
Part1
音声記録を収集所蔵する博物館の館内に到着したドクターとペリ。探索をはじめた途端に警報が鳴り響き、ドクターとペリは逃げ去る女性を目撃。あとに男の遺体が残されていた。男の死因を調べていると、バークレイ刑事に容疑者と勘違いされ、取り調べを受けることに。セキュリティカメラの映像から判明した死んだ男の名はファザネルといい、昨夜デントという女と共に博物館に侵入し、どういう方法でかは不明だが先日死亡した元俳優で大統領候補をする予定だったクレーンのスピーチのフレーズや話し方の録音に変更が加えている。手がかりを得るためにキュレーターのガントマンと犯行現場に赴くペリ。そこでひどく怯えて逃げてきたデントと遭遇する。
Part2
ドクターは音の生命体が博物館に潜んでいるのではないかと推理する。ペリとバークレイ刑事は半信半疑だ。だがドクターは音の生命体に逃げられないよう、博物館の通信網を完全に外部と遮断するよう指示。そして、あることを確認したいとドクターはキュレーターのガントマンを探しにいく。すると、ペリとバークレイに外部と通信を繋ぐようドクターから無線連絡が入る。さっき言ったことと全く違うと反論すると無線のドクターはさっき言ったことは間違いだったという。これまで間違いを認めたことなど一度としてないドクターのこの言葉にペリは不審を抱く。
Part3
サウンドの中に宿る生命体の正体をつきとめたドクター。目的が復讐であることも知る、これ以上の犠牲者を出さないためにCDの中に封じ込める。しかし、名優クレーンのトリビュート番組を放送することにこだわるクレーンのエージェント、ペネールとのと番組プロデューサーのスタンガードがディスクをすり替える。放送電波に乗ってサウンドの中の生命体が外に逃げ出し、災いをもたらすことを止めようとドクターは放送を阻止しようとする。
Part4
名優クレーンの死の真相とその裏に隠された恐ろしい陰謀をつきとめたドクター。殺人犯を捉え、陰謀を阻止するためサウンドの中の生命体と協力する。
感想
オーディオドラマの特性を存分に活かしたストーリーだと思うが、英語弱者の私には同時に展開する複数の会話やどれが誰の声なのかを聞き分けるのはなかなかの難行苦行だった。前半でさんざん煽られたホラー感からすれば、謎解きの点ではやや拍子抜けの感は否めない。聴いているこちら側には真犯人はすでに明らかになっていたので、ドクターが突き止めるくだりが長くて、早く気がつけよーとイライラさせられるのがちょっと残念だったりもした。しかし、6thドクターの皮肉っぽくてちょっとイラッ
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2022
Justin Richards has decided to take the sonic medium seriously by making a sound-oriented story. Set in the Museum of Aural Antiquities, the story's reliance upon a sound-creature, audio broadcasts, and verbal exchange is commendable. There is a tremendous plausibility gap, though. The center of focus, Visteen Krane, is supposed to be the "greatest actor of his generation." Yet, there are few photos or recordings. This makes no sense. Spend 5 minutes with an actor and you will understand that this makes no sense. An actor's career rests upon appearance. An actor who is not seen is not an actor. Neither is an unseen politician a politician. How could Krane become the prime candidate for the highest elected office if he made no political appearances? It just does not make sense.
June 13, 2022
This is a Six and Peri story, and though I'm aware that Big Finish tried to redeem Six in their later audios, in this he was as insufferable as he's ever been. Worse than he ever was on TV, imo. The story itself was quite interesting, but it was a simple story that was very dragged out. It had a couple of interesting characters, notably Visteen Krane, and some clever twists, but was mostly just okay. The main plot twist is super obvious but it takes the main characters so long to work out it's ridiculous. It tried to be the first audio story to play with the idea of audio as a medium, but I don't think it quite succeeded in doing that. Overall it was just okay.
November 11, 2025
Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are good, and I do like the concept of the sound creature, but the storytelling of this one is very messy and the worldbuilding just isn't there at all beyond 'A dark museum'. There's no scenery to envision.
I think the script also treats the audience as idiots, with the 'tut tut tut' twist in the final part being abundantly obvious from the start yet the Doctor and Peri have to listen to the recording about 5 times to figure it out.
It's also weird to hear Lisa Bowerman in a non-Bernice Summerfield role, but that's fine by me because I think she's an extraordinary actor.
I think the script also treats the audience as idiots, with the 'tut tut tut' twist in the final part being abundantly obvious from the start yet the Doctor and Peri have to listen to the recording about 5 times to figure it out.
It's also weird to hear Lisa Bowerman in a non-Bernice Summerfield role, but that's fine by me because I think she's an extraordinary actor.
October 8, 2018
3,5
Auch wenn mir zwei Aspekte der Story sehr schnell klar waren, gab es immer noch genügend Überraschendes für mich zu hören. Nicht besonders mochte ich das Vorführen von Peri (whom/who), aber ich wurde versöhnt dadurch, dass sie etwas zu tun bekam, aktiv beitrug - und ich mochte das Hin und Her zwischen ihr und Colin Bakers Doctor im Übrigen.
Auch die weiteren Voice-Actors waren sehr gut; ich habe mich insgesamt sehr gut unterhalten gefühlt.
Auch wenn mir zwei Aspekte der Story sehr schnell klar waren, gab es immer noch genügend Überraschendes für mich zu hören. Nicht besonders mochte ich das Vorführen von Peri (whom/who), aber ich wurde versöhnt dadurch, dass sie etwas zu tun bekam, aktiv beitrug - und ich mochte das Hin und Her zwischen ihr und Colin Bakers Doctor im Übrigen.
Auch die weiteren Voice-Actors waren sehr gut; ich habe mich insgesamt sehr gut unterhalten gefühlt.
December 30, 2018
Good listen this one, full of suspense and intrigue. Definitely one making the most of the audio medium, really not one that could work on TV I think as relies on the sense of hearing. A couple of interesting twists and turns, as not clear at times who all the antagonists are. Doctor and Peri in good form, and the supporting cast also strong. All round a good story and listen.
January 8, 2020
A fantastic story that deals with radio broadcasts, sound waves, politics, and a very interesting idea and creation of a monster that is ultimately let down by its final episode.
Part 4 feels like that it was trying to do to much and ultimately lead to an episode that felt really long and muddled.
A shame, as this could have been an all time favourite.
Part 4 feels like that it was trying to do to much and ultimately lead to an episode that felt really long and muddled.
A shame, as this could have been an all time favourite.
January 24, 2023
The Doctor and Peri seem to pick up almost directly from Season 22 and Big Finish has tightened up their interactions and writing. This is a good story with interesting concepts and I found the villains and threats really engaging. Whilst no masterpiece, this is definitely worth a listen and has some great scenes in my opinion.
April 7, 2024
A solid outing from the Sixth Doctor in his first solo outing. The plot is a fairly simple who-done-it and find-the-monster, with plenty of classic Six and Peri banter. The plot can drag a little but overall it is solid and well executed. The voice acting is top notch with a great sound design. Not a perfect release but solid anyway. 3.5/5
August 8, 2018
This adventure with the 6th Doctor and Peri was a fun one that deals with manipulating recordings to further a politician's agenda. The interplay between the two main characters was fun to listen too and reminded me very much of the 6th Doctor's arrogance in the series. A fun and worthwhile listen.
June 16, 2020
Wonderful idea for an audiobook—the Doctor and Peri visit a museum of *sound*. The mystery is cleverly constructed and makes entertaining listening. I don’t mind the Doctor/Peri bickering and the Doctor’s ginormous ego, just reminds me of watching the TV episodes. :)
September 3, 2020
I enjoyed this 6th Doctor & Peri adventure. I thought that the mystery was a good one and the thought of a sound museum was an intriguing one. It felt like a Doctor who episode. A nicely done short story.
February 10, 2022
I am so excited about the discovery of all the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary shorts which are done by all the authors I already love. It's like the perfect match. I have really enjoyed the variety of worlds and troubles that these adventures explore. I hope to read them all one day.
December 17, 2022
I like this one very much. It loosed pounds because Simon Backers Doctor very much like the 1st Doctor is quite hard to like...but I do like his and Perry's relationship. She calls him out and so he does her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews