Doctor Who: Time Works

Big Finish: Monthly Range #80

by Steve Lyons, Paul McGann (Narrator), India Fisher (Narrator)

“You want to know about the Time Keepers?”

“We work in their shadow, every tick and tock of our lives. We hear them in the workings of the Great Clock. We work hard, turn our hands – but we all wind down in time, and that is when they come for us: when our time is up.”

The TARDIS lands in between times, in a time where this is no time. A time in which nothing can possibly be. But something is…

The Doctor, Charley and C’rizz are rats in the wheelwork, a threat to the schedule of a world where timing is everything. And the seconds are counting down to a fateful future that has already happened. Unless they can beat the clock.

Tick, tock.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Time Travel

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Steve Lyons is a science fiction writer, best known for writing television tie-ins of Doctor Who for BBC Books, and previously, Virgin. The earliest of these was Conundrum in 1994, and his most recent was 2005's The Stealers of Dreams. He has also written material for Star Trek tie-ins, as well as original work.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world building in this Eighth Doctor audio really is fascinating, as the TARDIS trio including Charley and C’rizz land in between times.

Time is the most precious commodity here and the sinister Clockwork Men (no relation to the TV counterparts) are incredibly sinister and effective.

The story ticks along at a brisk pace will all the episodes clocking in around 25 minutes each, atmospheric and engaging.

[Lady Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating setting and very spooky. But Oh Dear Charley is being written TERRIBLY. She's panicking over everything, having no ideas and needing Crizz to make any suggestions of what's going on and what they should do. It's like her IQ dropped 50 points between stories. Such a disappointment as otherwise this would be a fantastic story.

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

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I thought this was a brisk book and the world building was pretty decent. Everything in this world is based on time, and I thought it was really interesting.

[H.K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another okay 8th Doctor audio. There were parts that were kind of disjointed, but I liked the atmosphere and the overall problem that was solved. I agree with other readers that the ending seemed a bit lackluster. The minor characters were well done however, and the Doctor shined as he always does. C'rizz didn't seem to be as important to this storyline as Charley did, like he was almost forgotten or dead weight to the story.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more 3.5 but I rounded it up for the themes of people should have a life outside of work

[Xander Toner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolute sleeper hit of a story. I don't think I've ever seen anybody ever talk about this story, so I had absolutely no expectations going in, aside from the cool cover. I really enjoyed this, especially the first two parts where the worldbuilding is most prevelant. The large majority of Part One is just Eight, Charley and C'rizz walking around a new environment, and its spectacular stuff. Throughout the story, there's a really nice string piece or lietmotif, and it suited the vibe and atmosphere of the plot perfectly - I must find a clean version and add it to a playlist.

Maybe I just enjoyed this one for the ambience and atmosphere.

[Juan Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really is a very good story with a strong fairytale element to it. The use of characters to narrate events or back story is a nice touch, bringing a touch of magic. The unreality and artificiality of the technique really draws attention to how wrong things are in the society of this story.

On the surface, it is the tale of a megalomaniac computer, The Figurehead, controlling the people of the world through industry and toil. I love it when a fairly conventional story is told via a new lens or narrative technique. In this case, it’s a sort of steampunk gothic style and setting. It makes for interesting listening and gets you to look at a familiar plot in a new way. It helps the listener to appreciate the real repercussions of living in a society dominated by an out of control work ethic.

The playing with time and the characters operating in different time tracks adds to the sense of a disjointed reality. The characters are separated not by location but by which time track they are on.

I’ve had a run of really excellent Doctor Who audios and how nice was it to hear McGann’s Doctor, Charley and C’rizz again for the first time in several years. I really enjoyed this team at the time and this was a great story with which to get reacquainted.

[Melenia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is all over the place. I did not enjoy it at all. The voices are too similar to be able to distinguish who is who when the scene changes every three minutes or so. I do t recommend it.

[Finlay O'Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable story with perfect pacing, scene-building and characterization. All of the guest cast are fleshed out properly and that helped to make this range of characters and their dilemma all the more compelling.

The Clockwork Men were neat, if not slightly "idle" too much and needed more of a threat factor to them than just giving out a few electric shocks, and it was nice to hear Tracey Childs again because I'll always love Klein and will be up for seeing the actress take on any villainous role.

A strong script which was definitely carved out for the Eighth Doctor specifically, so it works wonders. I just wasn't too sold on Prince Zenith's seemingly sudden change of heart after willingly trying to execute the Doctor and I wish the Clockwork Men were given more to do.

This adventure has also piqued my curiosity in the EDA novel "Anacrophobia" since this whole 8 Vs Time itself matchup worked well here, so maybe I'll have to check that novel out.

[Reggie A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every Doctor deserves a weird timey-wimey story, here’s Eights! The location and music are both very memorable but when it comes down to it, this story didn’t do much for me.

For a concept as cool as this, the execution was bland, especially coming off of Other Lives which— while by no means perfect— reveled in its wackiness.

I really enjoyed the setting and music here. Unfortunately the time gimmick— while interesting in theory— ends up being weirdly underwhelming in practice.

I don’t even know what to say here this story just kind of happened.

There are some really good moments in this, especially near the end (and I liked this story’s framing device), but I won’t be listening to it again anytime soon. A good story for background noise.

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ever since Zagreus there has been a trend for Eighth Doctor stories that are high concept and often not explored deeply enough. Bearing more than a little textural similarity to the far superior "A Natural History of Fear" this play starts off FEELING like it's going to go somewhere interesting, but that feeling is all the story has.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

時間に追われるように働き利益をあげる。利益をあげられなければ削除される。
そんなクロックワークが支配する世界に辿り着いたドクターとcチャーリーとケリス。
彼らの目には人々が止まっているように見えていた。長居しない方がいいと判断したドクターは2人をうなし、ターディスに戻ろうとするが、2人の目の前でドクターはコツゼンと消えてしまう。

労働者は奴隷じゃないんだ。もっと人間らしく扱ってくれと立ち上がるたびに大勢が処刑されてしまう。それに抵抗する声を上げるためドクターが密かに呼ばれたーというような話だったと思うのだけれど。

面白くなかったわけでもないけれども、それほど盛り上がらなかった感じ。

[luckey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I slept through a good chunk of this audiobook, but the bits I heard where quite entertaining. Loved that they separated the Doctor and his companions from each other, and the monster concept was creative, I just dont feel like anything exciting happened with them.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the Clockwork Men and how they were used, though I do think there was more that could've been done.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this adventure. Hopefully we'll see more of the Clockwise Men in the future.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent story with far more interesting Clockwork Men than those used in the show. C'rizz was severely under-utilised this time around, though.

[Finn Chamberlain-Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't that bad and had some really cool ideas but I just couldn't get into it. Took me a while to get through this one.

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I somehow feel like your average employer would love to treat people like this.

[elise barber-wixtrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

aha!!! late-stage soviet union

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the GOAT 8th Doctor stories. Unique concept and the Tardis team works well in this setting.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Who: Time Works by Steve Lyons is one of the best Eighth Doctor audio stories that Big Finish has produced. Lyons weaves and interesting tale by using time as the ultimate device of captivity.

I love how the story makes time as precious as money or jews, and that an empire is build around the turning of the clock.

Each of the characters in this story are wonderful. The Doctor and Charley are spot on in their performance and there is a refreshing step away from the story arc that has been building in the main range for C’rizz. The production staff have been weaving a plot throughout the character line, but it was nice to treat C’rizz as a more intricate role in this story rather than draw the focus away from the task at hand.

Also, the audio ambiance in this production is superb. The audible effects and score really set the mood for this tale.

Overall, and intriguing and imaginative story by Lyons, who is fast becoming one of my favorite writers/authors.

[Devin Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time Works has one of the best beginnings of the Big FInish audios, not THE best, but one of the best. It starts off rather creepy and eerie, almost reminicsent to how The Langoliers by Stephen King starts. The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz all land in some town which has stopped in time, while there are people in this town, they are all perfectly still and impossible to move. As the audio goes on it gets rather creepy and frightening, until the end where it is all resolved. The only reason I did not give this 5 Stars is that I believe the ending could have been a bit better, it wasn't terrible, just somewhat predictable and just "Ok". But the whole audio focuses on politics and society, the Eighth Doctor trying to help fix a corrupt king and prince who have become loyal to their oppressors, Charley and C'rizz facing many encounters with the terrifying Clockwork Men (and believe me they are quite creepy, even if you can't see them), and the Doctor and his companion's ally, a young shopkeeper named Vannet. It is a wonderful audio, with wonderful acting and creepy atmosphere, and I definitely will be listening to it again.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. But my attention did seem to wander a bit as I listened to the play. So I can't say it's one of the better 8th Doctor adventures.

[Nicholas Whyte]

Steve Lyons' work is always interesting, and Time Works is no exception: the Eighth Doctor and friends end up in a society obsessed with timekeeping, enforced by mysterious clockwork robots (a foreshadowing of The Girl in the Fireplace, unintentionally no doubt). The story combines the standard overthrow of alien oppressors (though not the king, this time) with some plot-convenient timeslips, so is not particularly special, but the dialogue is cracking, the world-building unusually convincing, and the cast, especially McGann, on top form.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz arrive in a kingdom obsessed with productivity and clock-watching, where the slightest hint of wastefulness can raise the ire of the Clockwork Men, who move between the tick and the tock of a second. When the travellers become separated, will they become stuck in time, like flies in amber?

[Scott Haworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Best since The Chimes of Midnight. Hits all the right notes. It's like a fairy tale, in all the right ways. I like it when the Doctor tries to save a whole culture from oppression. There's also a top-notch set of cliffhangers in this one.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts out very well, and the whole concept is certainly very interesting and off-kilter. It tends to waver towards the end, though, becoming a fairly standard sort of story, albeit in an unusual setting. So it never quite lives up to its promise, but it's good enough for all that.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but a bit unsatisfying in its conclusion.