Doctor Who: Sword of Orion

Big Finish: Monthly Range #17

by Nicholas Briggs, Paul McGann (Narrator), India Fisher (Narrator)

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...

Chronological Placement: This story takes place after the 1996 TV Movie, and after the Big Finish audio adventure Storm Warning.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Time Travel, Media Tie In, British Literature

Audio Play

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Nicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs. Some of Briggs' earliest Doctor Who-related work was as host of The Myth Makers, a series of made-for-video documentaries produced in the 1980s and 1990s by Reeltime Pictures in which Briggs interviews many of the actors and writers involved in the series. When Reeltime expanded into producing original dramas, Briggs wrote some stories and acted in others, beginning with War Time, the first unofficial Doctor Who spin-off, and Myth Runner, a parody of Blade Runner showcasing bloopers from the Myth Makers series built around a loose storyline featuring Briggs as a down on his luck private detective in the near future.

He wrote and appeared in several made-for-video dramas by BBV, including the third of the Stranger stories, In Memory Alone opposite former Doctor Who stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. He also wrote and appeared in a non-Stranger BBV production called The Airzone Solution (1993) and directed a documentary film, Stranger than Fiction (1994).

Briggs has directed many of the Big Finish Productions audio plays, and has provided Dalek, Cybermen, and other alien voices in several of those as well. He has also written and directed the Dalek Empire and Cyberman audio plays for Big Finish. In 2006, Briggs took over from Gary Russell as executive producer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio range.

Briggs co-wrote a Doctor Who book called The Dalek Survival Guide.

Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Briggs has provided the voices for several monsters, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. Briggs also voiced the Nestene Consciousness in the 2005 episode "Rose", and recorded a voice for the Jagrafess in the 2005 episode "The Long Game"; however, this was not used in the final episode because it was too similar to the voice of the Nestene Consciousness. He also provided the voices for the Judoon in both the 2007 and 2008 series. On 9 July 2009, Briggs made his first appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the serial Children of Earth, playing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Rick Yates.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second audio story to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor just has a weird feel to it.
It's like Big Finish has inserted the then current Doctor into a 1980's type of story.

Apparently this was adaption of a fan made story around that time and slighly obvious that it doesn't quite fit this TARDIS team.
It should also be noted that this was the Cybermen's first appearance for BF too.

This has a real Earthshock in audio vibe, so it's a slight shame that the cliffhanger reveal is ruined by the Cyberman on the cover!

Both Mcgann and India Fisher as companion Charley are both good in this, you can hear the bond between the pair forming.
With only the TV Movie and Storm Warning, it's nice to hear Eight's character developing - especially as he was my Doctor.

A little slow to get going but still engaging enough.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the back of No where in fare future is a ship full of Cybermen asleep all ready to wake up.
WAKEY WAKEY.
Cybermats ready to eat the engines & The Doctor save them all.
8th Doctor & Charlie running up down the corridors Chase by Cybermen.
Orion home of the famous Androids & why is the Captain so good at killing Cybermen?

[Polly Batchelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Relative to your time, the Cyberwar took place... A very long time ago."

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have this CD of Big Finish for more than 20 years in my collection and have listened to it before. Yet my only recall was that there were Cybermen involved.

So Charlie Pollard is now an official companion of the 8th Doctor and Ramsey the Vortisaur the official pet to be returned to the Time-vortex, were he not feeling well. So off to a massive Alien market to pick up some medicine for Ramsey.
However the parked TARDIS is being loaded on a salvage vessel and this make both timetravellers stowaways.
The savage vessel encounters a massive derelict star-destroyer , it turns out not to be an accident. There seems to be plenty of bounty however very quick the first deadly victim is discovered.
It turns out that the captain of the salvage vessel has a different plan, than the crew or the Doctor might expect.
And then of course there is a wellknown Menace that have their own plans: the Cybermen.

This 2nd installment of the 8th Doctor's adventures continues with quality, the sound around the actors does set the mood very well in what can be considered as very well written and acted audio-adventure. It was a pleasure re-visiting this story. The interaction between Doctor and Charlie is wicked and pleasurable and does make the story much more enjoyable.
this monthly series proved a very enjoyable and succesfull endeavore and has clearly proved to stand the test of time.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where I liked much of this, at times it was hard to follow. This is a first for me with any Big Finish audio play, as these are usually so well written especially by Nicholas Briggs. The production value was wonderful. And who doesn’t like the Cybermen as a villain. I just could not follow it all the time.

[Nicholas Whyte]

seems to be much loved by fans, but I really couldn't get into it. The voices of the two female guest actors were so similar that it was a while before I worked out that they were different characters, and then of course one of them turns out to be a cute robot. (I hate cute robots.) The surprise is that it turns out to be a Second Doctor Cyberman story (Wheel in Space, I think, though I haven't seen/heard it) reheated. I recently decided (after re-watching Earthshock in particular) that No Cyberman Story Ever Makes Sense, and this was no exception. I knew I was losing interested when I found myself speculating that the hold the Tardis was stuck in, 38B, might have been named after someone's bra size.

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

2020 52 Book Challenge - 9) Set In Space

I really liked this novel, I thought it was really interesting, and I really enjoyed the interactions between the Doctor and Charley as they get used to travelling with each other.

I wish that they'd gone with a different cover because it would have been a great cliffhanger moment when they revealed the Cybermen, except you already knew that it was going to be them because they are on the cover.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always scary when the cybermen are involved, maybe because you know they are or were once human and what that means for you if they catch up! This was the first big finish story to show them and im glad it was paul McGanns doctor who got the pleasure of fighting them first!

[Lady Nerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This was creepy and fun, but it did have its flaws. The first quarter was rather useless (though giving us some good Doctor/Charlie moments). After we get to the main plot point, there’s a lot of running and shouting which I don’t particularly enjoy in an audio drama. The side characters weren’t great either- except for the Captain.
All in all, this was a good introduction of the Cybermen to the 8th Doctor era.

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This is where at last, I get to put the kettle on."-The 8th Doctor.

A nice relisten. I have listened to this years ago but I've been diving back into the 8th Doctor main range stories.

A nice, deep space under siege kind of stories and this is the first Cybermen story and the first story to kick of the Cybermen spin off series. I like how well adjusted Charley is and just takes things in her stride though her accent does get a bit much sometimes.

And it's nice to see how young and innocent eight is in this, before the darker stories happen.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

well this was quite enjoyable! loving eight and charley, liked the captain side character but couldn’t care less about the others (and honestly didn’t pay any attention to their ultimate fate or the conclusion of any of their plotlines. cyberman something something conversion something something vague screams), and was overall satisfied with the story

3.5?

[Jessi Collier Wakefield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel weird saying I "read" these, but I want to keep track of these amazing Eighth Doctor audio plays.

I'm not the biggest fan of Cybermen, but I'll listen to McGann read anything, esp as The Doctor.

[Hita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering you’re familiar with big finish stories this one was mostly good, a bit exciting and a little plot twist in the end. As we start to know Charlie better she starts to be useful in her own way and ask the right questions. The only thing I didn’t like was the character of Cybermen. Those feelingless people are more flexible than Daleks in communications but the written dialogues were a bit dry and robotic

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a very good story some parts felt a bit bland but I throughly enjoyed it

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Interfere? That's my speciality"

This was great. Eight and Charly make a good team, they have a classic dynamic and this, their second adventure is a pure classic too. So for all intents and purposes, here are the eighth doctor episodes we've been longing for.

In this story the humans are up to no good and then the Cybermen get in on the action so The Doctor has to sort everyone out. The blurb will give you a better summary, but watch out for the final plot twist, it's a ripper!

Sometimes my brain draws weird connections, whenever Captain Jansen was speaking I was picturing her as Commandant Grayza from Farscape even though apart from the confident tone of her voice there wasn't much similarity between these characters.

I'm fond of pointing out that novels are greater than audio dramas BUT this is the second in a row that I've had a very good time with so I suspect that my attitude may be changing.

Anyway, this one sets up the 'Cyberman' series which is where I'm off to next, so I'll meet you over there.

Reread 06 Jan 24

[Lia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second entry for the Eighth Doctor and Charley in the Main Series run of the audio adventures. I personally found this story engaging at first, but ending with a rather lackluster note. The cover spoils the fact that the Cybermen are involved in this story, but it takes a long while before an actual Cyberman shows up. I think the story was paced better than Storm Warning, but definitely less interesting and attention-grabbing. The 'twist' at the end was pretty predictable, you could kind of see it from a mile away. Still, an entertaining enough story, but not a super strong entry compared to Doctor Who stories in general.

(Archived in 2017 as to not interfere with the Reading Challenge, actually listened in 2018)

[Viola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

[Plingsben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of suspense and takes great advantage of the medium it's in. A must listen 8 story.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part1

ラムジーが衰弱がひどくヴォルテックスに戻そうにもコンソール・ルームまでつれていくこちができない。ドクターはラムジーの治療に役立つものが見つけられるかもしれないとギャリソンのバザールへ向かう。



リサイクル・ショップで2人が役立つものを物色していると、店主のアイクがこっそりと逃げ出す。チャーリーはターディスを盗むつもりではと疑い、ドクターとチャーリーは慌ててターディスを停めた港の倉庫へと引きかえすが、その2人の目の前でターディス輸送船ヴァンガードに積み込まれてしまい、2人は慌ててターディスを追ってヴァンガードに潜り込む。無事にターディスを見つけられたものの、ヴァンガードの加速ぶりに不審を抱いたドクターはターディスでチャーリーと脱出しようとする。しかし、ヴァンガードが急ブレーキをかけたタイミングと価値あってしまい、ターディスの中にエネルギーが充満してしまい、元に戻るまで外に出ていなければならなくなる。ターディスの外はまた宇宙船の中だった。ここがヴァンガードがリサイクル品として回収しようとしていたスターデストロイヤーという戦艦である。時間つぶしに散策に出かけるドクターとチャーリー。しかし、乗り込んできたヴァンガードの乗組員の悲鳴がターディスを置いてきた方向から聞こえ、慌てて引き返す。



Part2

ドクターとチャーリーはターディスのそばに倒れている瀕死の重傷を負ったキルシーを見つける。手当をしようとするが、そこへ仲間のグラッシュとチェフが来て、ドクターとチャーリーがキルシーを殺したと思い込み2人を捕らえる。艦長ジェンセンの命令でヴァンガードに連れていかれた2人はキルシーを殺していないことを主張。その時、通信信号が感知されたとヴォルからジェンセンに報告。ジェンセンはドクターを疑うが、ドクターは素早く動く何かを見つけており、急速に移動しているという次のヴォルの報告からそれが信号の発信元とわかる。今度はエネルギー漏れも感知され、ドクターは原因を探る手伝いを申し出る。ドクターの提案受け入れたジェンセンにグラッシュは反感を抱き、銃を使ってジェンセンを脅し、ヴァンガードを侵入したものの正体を探るため、ギャリソンに戻ろうとするがエンジンがかからない。原因を探るため、ドクターとジェンセンはスターデストロイヤーに向かうが、そこでサイバーマンに襲われる。



Part3

スターデストロイヤーでの調査を続けていくうちに、イオン・ストームでサイバーマンの冬眠装置に不具合が生じたとわかる。人間のパーツが使えなくなったため交換できる部品を探そうとしている。サイバーマンのリーダーも目覚めているのを目撃したドクターはサイバーマンに見つかる前にジェンセンを連れてターディスで船から脱出することを考える。しかし、サイバーマンに気がつかれ、ヴァンガードに引き返す。一方グラッシュの命令でエンジンの不具合を探るためエンジン・ルームに降りたチャーリーとヴォルはサイバーマットを捕獲。しかし、得体のしれぬ侵入者にグラッシュが殺されたとチェフが泣きながら駆け込んでくる。しかし、すぐにグラッシュがその侵入者は倒したとすぐに現れる。チャーリー達と合流したドクターとジェンセン。サイバーマンについて説明し、ジェンセンは脱出のための指揮をとる。チャーリーとクルーからグラッシュの話をきいたドクターはグラッシュがサイバーマンに操られている可能性があると指摘。さらにドクターは秘密めいたジェンセンの正体に興味を持つ。



Part4

ヴァンガードのクルー達がサイバーマンに捕らえられていくなか、ドクターとチャーリーはジェンセンがスパイであると知る。8年前、アンドロイドが人間と平等の権利を主張し、人間と交戦状態に入った。ジェンセンの任務はサイバーマンと人間の間で同盟を結びアンドロイドと戦うことだ。しかし、ジェンセンの正体はアンドロイドで本来の任務はサイバーマンが人間をサイバーマンに変換する技術で、その技術でアンドロイドのために戦うサイバーマン軍を作ろうとしていた。そこへサイバーマンがチャーリーを捕らえる。さらにイオン・ストームが直撃し、ドクターも意識を失う。

感想

感情を持ったアンドロイドと人間がそれぞれサイバーマンを戦争に利用しようとする。設定としては興味深いのだが、そこを理解するまでがややこしく、ストーリーを楽しむという余裕が持てなかったのが残念だ。感情を持つことが良くも悪くも大事ということなのか。ジェンセンの正体をクライマックスに持ってくるのではなくそれを知った上でのドクターの行動が見たかったような。嵐のお陰でドクターは難しい決断をすることを避けられた。それが今ひとつカタルシスを得られなかった原因かもしれない。

[Toby Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sword of Orion, written (and pretty much everything else) by Nicholas Briggs.

I really enjoyed this. Despite the plot not being particularly new, as the "Base Under Siege" trope is very old and tired, I still think that if executed well (which this is), so therefore clichés can be forgiven.

The pacing was slow at times, especially the first episode that came across redundant, as the story could've just begun with the Doctor and Charley arriving on the spaceship. After that, the pace does pick up.

The Eighth Doctor and Charley arrive at a human colony, hundreds of years in the future, to try and find a cure for Ramsey the Vortisaur, as it's health is declining, and after the Tardis gets picked up for scrap, the Doctor and Charley get embroiled in a plot for humans to utilise Cybermen in the stalemate war between them and the Androids.

The acting, as usual, was top notch - it's clear that Big Finish put a lot of effort into the series, but the writing wasn't the most flavourful. Whilst it was generally good, there weren't really any dialogue triumphs, and some characters did feel quite boring and annoying, namely Grash.
If anybody deserves a slap, it's him.
I unquestionably liked Deeva; she completely contrasted Grash, and she was absolutely level headed and intelligent. Although it is revealed she is an android, so it does make sense...

Ultimately, Sword of Orion is relatively forgettable, but the story is fun enough to warrant a listen to once or twice, but if you've seen a Cyberman story on a spaceship, you've seen this one.

On a tangent, whilst re-reading my review it did come across to me as a bit unfairly critical, so I do want to make the point that I did highly enjoy this, despite its flaws.

Sadly, this is one of the only Main Range Eighth Doctor stories I don't own on CD. It's just so damn expensive on ebay at the moment...

[MindProbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicholas Briggs often seems to write scripts for people who derive an inherent aesthetic pleasure from certain types of sci-fi exposition, full of lengthy technical discussion of various gadgetry and spatial phenomena, and this story is perhaps one of the purest examples of that. with Briggs himself crafting a richly atmospheric synthesised soundscape to accompany it however, that dialogue almost starts to resemble the lyrics to a sort of dark and gloomy Doctor Who-themed concept album, a symphony of mechanical keyboard clacks, communicator bleeps, airlock hisses, and space-gun zaps.

certainly, approaching Sword of Orion as an aesthetic construct first and as an actual narrative second quickly seemed like the way I was going to get the most enjoyment out of it on this listen, given that the characterisation is virtually nil and the plot lasts at least one full episode longer than it has any reason to, padded out across the middle hour by what amounts to some mundane, meaningless busywork. the intent seems to be to ape the slow pace and stripped-down simplicity of Alien, as indeed a couple of plot elements are outright swiped from it, but where that film is an essentially perfect piece of craft, here the results just come across hollow and dully literal, time-wasting rather than tension-building. when part four comes along and the story finally takes a stab at actually being *about* something, it's too little, far too late.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as good as some of the other 8th Doctor audioplays I've listened to, Sword of Orion was still rather enjoyable and went by quickly. It was fun to see McGann's Doctor face off against the Cybermen, even though he didn't spend much time with them and they only showed up halfway through the story. Charley continues to be a capable companion and a decent foil to the Doctor, and the throw-away side characters were engaging and their actors did an amazing job. I hope McGann gets another chance to do a Cybermen story in the future, as this was just fine, but not entirely satisfying.

One thing I have to point out is there's a lot going on here in terms of sound effects, voice changing, and background effects. I will never not be impressed at the level of effort that goes into these. The Big Finish team really bring the stories to life and do a phenomenal job. I will certainly be continuing this series!

[Isaac L · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2nd of the Eighth Doctor audios I've heard, this was an improvement over the first and an engaging story where the Doctor and Charley find themselves facing the Cybermen on a derelict space cruiser, Alien style. This story had some interesting supporting characters and the worldbuilding backdrop of the Orion Android vs Human war led to some interesting story elements towards the end. I also like that the Cybermen were intelligent and able to be reasoned with despite having evil motives, as they are a much more interesting foe when they are smart as we are.

My only real complaint is something I'm seeing others mention, which is that it's probably a bad idea to have similar sounding voice actors for two different side characters with similar roles. It is a bit confusing at times. But other than that, characters such as Jansen and Grash made for interesting side characters with mysterious motives. Overall, a 7/10 audio experience I'd say.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audio drama felt worlds away from the last Eighth Doctor adventure I had listened to and it's hard to pinpoint precisely why this was so. It's still the Doctor and Charlie driving this story, but their interactions felt a lot more substantial and genuine than in the first book. I guess a lot of it had to do with the narrative format with everything set in space and almost feeling like the Alien-style space truckers but this time they're space scavengers.

It also probably helped that they managed to get the Cybermen into this story and they really had a lot to do as primary antagonists. But on the whole it was just a very solid adventure that had a lot of the beats of a Classic adventure but also felt like it had the sensibilities of the Ninth Doctor era, if you get my drift.

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid story with some very interesting elements. There was some really fantastic and fascinating worldbuilding helped along in part by some really good music. Most of the side-characters were a bit annoying, but Deeva was a fantastic character and more than made up for it. The cybermen were not the most interesting they've ever been in this story, I have to say, but there were some pretty effective moments of horror. The story itself was quite interesting, if a little dragged out, with some nice commentary, and everything came together well in the end. I'm really starting to love the Eighth Doctor already, and Charley is great too. And them as a team is fantastic. Really looking forward to following their continued adventures.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually, these Doctor Who audio adventures can be listened to in any order. However, this one picks up where Doctor Who: Storm Warning left off, with Paul McGann as the Doctor and India Fisher and the newly picked-up companion Charlie. I really liked Charlie in her first outing, but find that she went a little bland and turned into a "normal female companion" when written by a different author. Nicholas Briggs knows Doctor Who inside and out and generally pens exciting thrillers. This is no exception, I just wanted more of the spunky Charlie found in her first adventure.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like two-and-a-half stars. After my deep love of the first "radio" play in the Eighth Doctor's line -- Storm Warning -- this one seemed off to quite a promising start. Alas, while the beginning and ending were both solid, the main bulk of the adventure consisted of characters running about on a spaceship. The Doctor felt slightly "off" to me (pragmatic almost to the point of impatience), and Charley tries gamely enough but isn't given enough to do. (Neither, for that matter, is the Doctor.) Some of the heart was missing -- and heart, for me, is what Doctor Who is all about.

Intriguing idea, but I think this might've gone better as an hour-long adventure.

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably between 4 and a 5, though pretty close to 5 for me, I looked forward to listening to this one again, and it didn't disappoint. Something about the nature of the story, a bit of a base under siege, but the overall atmosphere for how presented, the way the Cybermen were used and at least one very good twist that while I knew was coming this time round, I'm pretty sure was a surprise last time and a good one.
Good action and suspense throughout, the Eighth Doctor and Charlie in good form, and the one off characters here are a varied, well fleshed out bunch with a good variety to them and made you care about their fates.
Overall a great listen.

[Reggie A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cybermen are at their spookiest when we know that they’re around, but don’t know exactly where they are or what they’re up to. That’s where this episode succeeds.

If you’re not a fan of space romps and a slow burn spooky mystery, this one won’t be for you. It invites you to sit with it and sink into the story alongside the characters. I kind of love it for that; this is a good follow up to Storm Warning, even if tonally a quiet, broken starship floating in space is perhaps a step back from the high stakes danger of an airship in a storm.

I love Cybermen stories done right and that’s what this is to me. The secondary character drama is also interesting enough to carry the B plot.

[Moko Anggoro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is certainly not my favourite. Number one reason for that is that too many supporting characters without any distinguishing trait, save for the Captain (which I already forgot the name). The pace also felt clunky, a bit rushed in the final act, with too many unlikeable characters getting the main dialogue in the first and second parts. I love the Cyberman here since they are portrayed as mysterious hunters lurking behind the shadow. Unfortunately, there are not enough good things that I'm enjoyed in this one.