Temporal Audiobook By Julian Simpson, Richard MacLean Smith, Bec Boey, Nosa Igbinedion cover art

Temporal

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Temporal

By: Julian Simpson, Richard MacLean Smith, Bec Boey, Nosa Igbinedion
Narrated by: Nicola Walker, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jessie Mei Li, Steven Mackintosh, Mark Bazeley, Jana Carpenter, Kyle Soller, Phoebe Fox, Barnaby Kay, Rebecca Boey, Danielle Lewis, Don Gilet, Ferdinand Kingsley, full cast
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A gripping, full-cast science-fiction drama for fans of time travel, conspiracy theories, and unexplained phenomena.

In the not-too-distant future, a 21-member crew launches from Earth. Their mission: to establish a temporary colony on Mars. Little do they know that colony will become permanent–and the last stand of the human race. Because, without warning, every single person left on Earth simply...vanishes.

Now, a thousand years later, the resources needed to sustain life are running out, and the very existence of the Mars colony is threatened. Humankind has only one option–to return to its home planet.

But is Earth safe? Could the Vanishing happen again?

To get answers, two teams are launched back in time–one to New York City before the Vanishing; another to follow a bizarre trail of clues through history, from Area 51 to the lost Roanoke colony, and beyond.

There are forces, though, that don’t want the Temporal mission to succeed. And a mysterious being whose own agenda might destroy them all.

©2024 Storypunk and Low Spark Entertainment (P)2024 Audible Originals, LLC. Science Fiction Time Travel
Julian Simpson
Richard MacLean Smith
Bec Boey
Nosa Igbinedion

About the Creator

Julian Simpson made his directorial debut at the age of 23 with his film The Criminal, which The Guardian described as “a formidably promising feature debut.” On the strength of this he signed a three-picture writing deal with Miramax.
He went on to direct the first drama aired on BBC3 and over the last 12 years has written or directed some of the UK’s top-rated dramas, including Inspector Lynley, Spooks and Doctor Who. For three series he was lead writer and director on the UK’s highest-rated crime drama New Tricks.
Julian won the 2016 Tinniswood Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for his Radio 4 drama Fugue State, and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Bad Memories in 2011. He is the creator of the award-winning Lovecraft Investigations fiction podcast, the Aldrich Kemp drama series for Radio 4, which has just been renewed for a third season, and the forthcoming sci-fi series Temporal for Audible. He is also a director of the world-building company Storypunk.

About the Creator

Richard MacLean Smith is a writer and podcaster signed to Curtis Brown and UTA. Richard’s podcast Unexplained, described by The Guardian as the "spookiest podcast ever," was selected as iTunes Best of 2016 and has been streamed over 70 million times, reaching #2 in the US, UK and Canadian Apple Podcast chart.
In 2018, Unexplained the book was published by Sceptre in the UK and Sourcebooks in the US and Canada in 2019. Richard created and produced the Sony podcast Rescue in 2023 and is developing a number of film and TV projects including an adaptation of Unexplained.

About the Creator

Bec is a screenwriter, actor and activist of Malaysian Chinese and Geordie heritage. She has a horror feature in development with the BFI and a comedy commission from the BBC. Her folk horror stop motion short Stones premiered at London International Animation Festival. Her comedy web series Jade Dragon is available on Youtube. Her sci-fi audio pilot Locusts was commissioned by Audible as part of the YA series GNR8. She sits on the Writers Guild Great Britain Television Committee and its Equality and Diversity Committee, and is a founding member of the activist group BEATS (British East Asians in Theatre and Screen).

About the Creator

Nosa Igbinedion is a British-Nigerian filmmaker and recipient of the Rising Talent Screen Nation Award. His shorts have won multiple awards and have been featured in notable film festivals around the world (London Short Film Festival, AFRIFF, Raindance among others).
As a pioneer of the new Afro-futurism movement, he created the first African superheroine universe, "Rise of the Orisha." The proof-of-concept film went viral, garnering over a million views online and was featured in international publications such as O Globo and BBC worldwide. He was also commissioned by the BBC and the BFI to write and direct Binge Watching, a social realist sci-fi short that was broadcast on BBC 4 and I player.
Nosa is currently under commission on two feature film projects, is developing a video game, and has original work in development with leading production companies in both the UK and US. He wrote an original podcast with Storypunk, and is currently writing on an exciting new TV series in development with showrunner Julian Simpson.

Sanjeev Bhaskar
Nicola Walker
Jessie Mei Li
Jana Carpenter
Kyle Soller

About the Performer

Actor and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar gained notoriety as creator and performer of the BBC hit series Goodness Gracious Me. His film roles have included It’s a Wonderful Afterlife (Gurinder Chadha), London Boulevard (William Monahan) and The Zero Theorum (Terry Gilliam).
Sanjeev led the cast in the BAFTA Award-winning television series Indian Doctor, which garnered record ratings and critical acclaim, and he has also appeared in the West End as King Arthur in Eric Idle’s Spamalot.
Sanjeev wrote and starred in The Kumars at No. 42, which had global success winning two Emmys, a BAFTA nomination, a British Comedy Award and the Bronze Rose at Montreaux.
In 2007, Sanjeev embarked on a highly personal journey through modern India with the BBC to commemorate 60 years of Indian independence. His accompanying travel book became a Sunday Times bestseller.
Since then, Sanjeev has starred alongside Nicola Walker and Sinéad Keenan as DI Sunny Khan in ITV's critically acclaimed cold case drama Unforgotten, now on its 6th series. He has a returning role in the DC Comics series Sandman for Netflix and will be back as Dr. Jafri in Paddington in Peru (2024).

About the Performer

Theatre includes: The Corn is Green (National Theatre), The Cane (Royal Court), A View from the Bridge (Young Vic, Wyndham’s & Lyceum Theatre New York), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress), Season’s Greetings, Gethsemane, Tales from the Vienna Woods and Edmond (all National Theatre), Di and Viv and Rose (Hampstead Theatre), Mrs Klein and Cloud Nine (both Almeida), Relocated, Fresh Kills, Sweetheart, The Libertine/The Man of Mode, Hated Nightfall (all Royal Court), Modern Dance for Beginners (Soho Theatre), The Dead Eye Boy (Hampstead), Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Sheffield Crucible), A Lie of the Mind (Donmar), Passion Play (Donmar & Comedy) and Fifty Revolutions (Whitehall).
Television includes: Mary & George, Annika, Marriage, Unforgotten: Series I-IV, The Split: Series I-III, Collateral, Inside No. 9, River, Last Tango in Halifax: Series I-V (BAFTA Best Supporting Actress nominations), Babylon, Scott and Bailey, Prisoners Wives, Heading Out, Inside Men, Spooks: Series II-V & VIII-X, Being Human, Law & Order, Luther, Turn of the Screw, Oliver Twist, Torn, Broken News, People Like Us, The Last Train, Touching Evil: Series I-III, Chalk, A Dance to the Music of Time, Milner, Faith, and Moll Flanders.
Film: Shooting Dogs, Shiner, Four Weddings and a Funeral.

About the Performer

Jessie Mei Li starred as "Alina Starkov" in two seasons of the hit Netflix show Shadow & Bone, based on the bestselling trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. She will soon be seen in Gareth Evans’s feature film Havoc, playing the role of "Ellie" opposite Tom Hardy. Other recent work includes the Edgar Wright feature Last Night in Soho for Working Title Films/Film4, and Ivo van Hove’s stage adaptation of All About Eve at the Noel Coward Theatre opposite Lily James and Gillian Anderson.

About the Performer

Jana Carpenter is an actor, improvisor and musician. She is the star of the hit Lovecraft Investigations podcast series, and plays a variety of characters in the BBC's Aldrich Kemp audio drama series. She is one half of Mercury Award-nominated band Sweet Billy Pilgrim, and is currently researching a PhD in Early Modern History.

About the Performer

Since graduating from RADA, Kyle Soller has acquired an impressive body of work across stage, screen and film. Kyle’s stage work earned him the Outstanding Newcomer Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2011 following his three breakout performances in the 2010 revival of Tennessee Williams’s play The Glass Menagerie at the Young Vic, in Gogol’s classic comedy The Government Inspector, also at the Young Vic, and The Faith Machine at the Royal Court. The following year he received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in Anthony Page’s 2012 production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night. In 2017, Kyle starred in Patrick Marber's Hedda Gabler opposite Ruth Wilson at the National Theatre in Ivo van Hove's directorial debut for the National Theatre. In 2019, Kyle starred in The Inheritance at the Young Vic, which then transferred to Broadway and won Kyle an Evening Standard Nomination for Best Actor, and he was the winner of Best Actor at the Olivier Awards.
Other theatre credits include Edward II at the National Theatre. Kyle made his Broadway debut in 2012 in Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac.

Intriguing Premise • Excellent Voice Acting • Diverse Voice Actors • Engaging Plot Twists • Creative Time Travel
Highly rated for:
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Story was interesting, I'm a big time travel fan. The production quality was terrible the frequent cracking popping and sound distortion almost gave me a headache . I had to take so many breaks from listening the story lost it's attraction , I powered through and finished but did not enjoy it as much as I could have

crappy sound recording

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I enjoyed the weaving in of mysteries we still contemplate today…such as, who was DB Cooper and what happened to him and the money? The current theory on the missing colony that doesn’t quite fit and we truly will never know was a good touch. For people who enjoy mysteries and true crime, these are stories mulled over time and time again…like what truly happened to Malasia Airlines Flight 370?

I’ll need to listen again when I can focus more, as the voices can be difficult to differentiate with the foley and any real life background noise. I love these as they feel like old radio dramas.

Interesting weave of mysteries

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The storyline was amazing and kept you enthralled. the actors did an amazing job. I really enjoyed this book.

Very Well done

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Hard to listen to. Voice actors were a big rushed and overacting a big. Did not capture the tone well, except a few exceptions.

Should have recorded in a studio..

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I really enjoyed the use of time travel in this story but I felt like things went all over the place towards the end. That could be the case with a lot of stories that involve time travel, branching timelines, etc. It also felt like it left a lot unanswered also. The actors did an awesome job in their performance though.

Very solid up until the last act.

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it was unclear how the storyline ended. things were just sort of left up in the air.

unsatisfying ending

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A little confusing in the end at a certain point, but I'll relisten. Ultimately I understood. Still a great story, not rushed feeling at all for only 4 hours!

Good

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Kind of confusing with the multiple voices and many sound effects. I lost the plot towards the end. Didn’t bother to go back.

Hard to follow

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I loved the performance and plot but the end was baffling and didn’t explain any of the plot threads.

End makes no memes

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I liked the story concept, but found it hard to follow and piece together what was going on.

A bit murky

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