Sword of Orion (Doctor Who) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

"The human race is locked in deadly combat with the 'Android Hordes' in the Orion System. Light years from the front line, the Doctor and Charley arrive to sample the dubious delights of a galactic backwater, little suspecting that the consequences of the Orion War might reach them there. But High Command's lust for victory knows no bounds.
"Trapped aboard a mysterious, derelict star destroyer, the Doctor and Charley find themselves facing summary execution. But this is only the beginning of their troubles. The real danger has yet to awaken.
"Until, somewhere in the dark recesses of the Garazone System, the Cybermen receive the signal for reactivation..."

There is no doubt in my mind that Nicholas Briggs' Sword of Orion is a much better outing for Paul McGann's Doctor than the disappointing Storm Warning, which suffered from a terribly saggy third episode. Sword of Orion, by contrast, starts slowly but builds up into a satisfyingly animated finale without losing any momentum along the way. There's also just the right level of pathos in the brief closing scene.
Populated by a larger ensemble cast than many Big Finish stories, it's sometimes difficult to work out who is who among the crew of the salvage vessel on which the story is partly set. But that doesn't really matter, as the really important characters (the Doctor, Charley and Michelle Livingstone's cool-edged performance as Captain Deeva Jansen) stand out and out are recogniseable. Also putting in a good showing is Bruce Montague as the gruff and mutinous Grash, but the rest of the supporting characters are more forgettable.
The mysterious star destroyer is a creepy setting even though we can't see it. The atmosphere is conjured up well by the score and the use of subtle echo effect on the characters' voices. The script handles events pretty well too, making it clear what is happening without too often resorting to blatant exposition.
When the Cybermen finally put in an appearance, the voices are immediately recogniseable as the Cybermen we saw in the 1980s. It's a bit odd, perhaps, as the story takes place in a similar time frame to The Tomb of the Cybermen in which the voices were very different, but who's splitting hairs?
Overall a decent adventure, although it doesn't exactly follow up the ongoing storyline hinted at by the events of Storm Warning.

I was wondering when Paul McGann's newly returned Doctor would meet with a monster from the series' past. Wondering and hoping it wouldn't be the Daleks, as they're the obvious choice. I was surprised to find it was his second story when the Cybermen (good choice) appear! The Sword of Orion plays very much like a standard Dr Who episode (not a bad thing, i assure you). All the ingredients are in place for a rollicking adventure with the emotionless cybermen at the core: opening, pre-credits scene, Doc and Charley accused of a murder they could not possibly have committed (the body has been crushed by something with massive strength), a splash of secondary characters and one with a mysterious past. In fact, when i think of it: Revenge of the Cybermen with a new setting and characters! Not a problem in my book! The Cybermen are visually Invasion-like (only from the dark cover of the CD, however - they sound post-Silver Nemesis.) Deeva, captain of the ship the Doctor finds himself on, is played by Michelle Livingstone, yet throughout the drama i pictured Lynda Bellingham (voices are quite similar). The character is excellent three-dimensional, but the supporting crew are a little predictable.
I noticed two Star Wars references - Charley speaking to an alien in the Garzone Bazaar reminds me of Tatooine and the derelict craft in the junkyard is called a Star Destroyer (makes it easy to imagine what it looks like, though). McGann is as usual excellent and India Fisher is settling in very nicely as the inquisitive sidekick. The sound effects (especially the guns) are just great, and the background music is suitably claustrophic and robotic. Best of all, however, the story doesn't try and straighten out anything mentioned in the series, its a standalone Cybermen episode that links with no other. Recommended!

I am a huge Doctor Who fan and have only over the past few months been into the Big Finish collection. I must say how excellent it is and how good the writers are. Well done guys! The Sword of Orion is an eighth Doctor adventure with a champanion called Charley Pollard (who is a girl!) This adventure starts off a little slow, but by the end of part one you're hooked. This adventure reminds me of the 1983 Doctor Who serial called Earthshock. Earthshock is another excellent Doctor Who adventure staring Peter Davison. Like Earthshock, this adventure envolves the Cybermen and like Earthshock, this serial is set mostly in space on a space ship and like Earthshock, nearly every character dies in this serial. What makes this serial even better than Earthshock is that of the scary atmosphere (which I think is down to the fact that this is an audio serial.) I garantee that anyone who likes Earthshock will like this serial and vise-versa. Though the 'Orion War' would have been a beter title in my opinion. Other Big Finish audios that I would recomend are: Seasons of Fear, The Harvest and my all-time favourite: Master!