Starring Paul McGann, India Fisher & Bruce Montague
Written & Directed by Nicholas Briggs
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...
After the breathlessly exciting, but ultimately traditional, first story Storm Warning, Big Finish decided to follow it up with another traditional story, filtered for 2001. While Sword Of Orion does use one of the most bog-standard Who plots (base under siege), I don't think that, unlike Storm Warning, Sword Of Orion manages to convey the breathless feeling I was hoping from the eighth Doctor. Sword Of Orion is an ultimately traditional story that very much feels like something that could have been broadcast in the 1980's. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good story, since 80's Who can often be seen in a very negative light. And, while there are good bits about Sword Of Orion, it's mostly average at best.
The main basis of the plot revolves around the machinations of the Cybermen in attempting to convert a group of scavengers, and revive their army. It does feel a little like Tomb Of The Cybermen crossed with The Wheel In Space, which, while interesting, does end up feeling a little derivative. The tone and characterisation is lifted pretty much from Earthshock, with a smattering of other sci-fi horror movies thrown in for good measure. Now, I think that 'patchworking' as I've called it (essentially throwing stories together to create a new one) can work, and can produce interesting results. And while Sword Of Orion has some very interesting ideas going for it, I don't think that it's one of those that quite works. The story very much treads a fine line between being derivative in a fun way, and derivative in a lack of imagination way: sometimes, it's quite enjoyable, particularly the material set in the Bazar and all the little bits featuring the Cybermen talking about revival systems and conversion equipment, but some bits of the story, particularly the inter-personal politics between the salvage crew and Deeva, really just felt a little dull. With a story like this, you need to keep the storyline and the characters interesting, and I just feel that, at times, this didn't happen. The plot slows up at points, with nothing really significant happening. And, while the story is derivative, a plot like this can work, provided you keep the action interesting. However, there's plenty of bits in the story that just slow up and the pace goes completely. With the plot not being anything that hasn't been seen before, it needs to keep itself pacey. However, I think there are times where the story just seems to slow up completely, with the plot not really moving forward at all. Anything of a derivative nature needs to keep itself moving, otherwise it just becomes boring and stale. And there are many points in the story where, truth be told, I was starting to find it boring. This also seeped into the ending, which I felt was very, very rushed in it's attempt to tie everything together and rap it all up. It felt like a rather sudden swerve from the really, really slow burner we'd been stuck in. It ended up feeling like a runaround for a runaround's sake, but with all the life and energy sucked out of it. I commented how Storm Warning had a breathless enthusiasm about it, that allowed you to enjoy it despite a feeling that it's not a plot that is brand new and untested in Doctor Who. However, Sword Of Orion's grim tone and maudlin atmosphere does really work against this story, which was totemic of the same problem that was faced by Eric Saward's Doctor Who, and the mid 80's generally - that a dark tone, coupled with a 'patchworked' story, generally leads to a listener finding your story a little on the dull side. There were parts I did enjoy though (I thought the Bazar sequences were particularly well written), and I wasn't completely indifferent to it, but I did think there wasn't really enough plot to sustain this listener's interest that much unfortunately.
With a story where your plot is a little thin on the ground, what you really need are good, effective, engaging characters to really make your plot stand out. However, to me, I just felt that, like in Storm Warning, they were just the sort of stereotypes you'd find in any latter-day base-under-siege story. There a bit 'hard as nuts', angry characters, who will quite happily point a gun at the Doctor every five seconds, and, for me at least, I don't really find that an interesting character type. Sure, maybe one, or even possible two, characters like that might really work. However, the whole crew are like this, and, unfortunately, I just found them really, really uninteresting. Briggs does have the common sense to try and make Deeva Jansen an interesting character, and she does manage to stand out from the crowd at least a little bit. However, the main problem with Jansen is that the story, in true Moffat style, relies upon a twist about her character, which is pretty guessable if you've got a decent amount of brain cells. As mentioned, she's a little more sympathetic than the rest of the cast, however the main twist regarding her character is simply brushed aside, due to the fact that it's brought up at the end, and is brushed aside in the hurried attempt to end the story. Sure, there is a philosophical point about the character, but that's only really a throwaway line to make comment upon the Cybermen. Of course, Nicholas Briggs' makes this the eighth Doctor's first encounter with the Cybermen, and, while I can see Briggs trying to reinforce the Cybermen as this scary, powerful force, I just felt they came across in the same, weak way that they were portrayed as in some of their late 80's Who stories. Here, at least, they don't just come across as men in tin foil, but I don't think there was the same kind of horror focus that the 60's Cybermen had. As much as I wanted to believe that Briggs had 'got' the concept of the Cybermen, I couldn't say that he had, because I don't think that there's enough of the body horror there for it to be justified. I certainly think that changes across later plays (especially when it comes to the Cyberman mini-series he wrote), but here, I just felt he was missing that key component. When the explanation of what the Cybermen are is boiled down into a two minute scene, and is not a key aspect of the story, I feel that the Cybermen haven't really been captured that effectively. To be honest, the characters really aren't that interesting, and there's not that much more to say about them. The acting is also a little one note, which is rare for a Big Finish production. I thought Michelle Livingstone was decent as Jansen, and Toby Longworth, Mark Gatiss and Helen Goldwyn were ok too. Nicholas Briggs and Alistair Lock's Cybermen voices sounded a little off, but I suppose that's due to the fact that they were done in the 80's style, something that Big Finish have moved away from in recent years, and they weren't at all bad. India Fisher was also great, and while Paul McGann did seem a little unenthused in comparison to the last story, he still put in a great showing, despite the fact that the Doctor and Charley were written for a little generically, possibly because of the fact that this story started life as a part of the unauthorised predecessor to Big Finish, Audio Visuals. However, the rest of the cast just seemed very undistinct, a feeling not helped by Bruce Montague really phoning it in as Grash. Both Ike and Vol sound like they're being played by the same actor who's forgotten to change his voice for each part, and as a result, I really couldn't connect with the characters in the situation, because I couldn't buy the reactions they had to the situation.
It is clear, however, that this story matches what Nicholas Briggs had down on paper, since he was the director and in charge of post-production on this release. While his direction is nothing really spectacular (since I've had so much to say about some of the cast's performances, I can hardly call it good, or even competent), it's decent, and he does the best he can, although I would have hoped he could have brought a bit more flair to the material. His sound design and, in particular, his music, however, is much better. His sound design convincingly creates every environment, and allows the listener to picture it in their mind's eye, something which can make or break a story for some listeners. His music, meanwhile, is his best score to this point, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of this story and it just sounds perfectly foreboding for the events taking place. His little Bazar ditty is slightly annoying, but that's the point: it's meant to be a real earworm, and it's not that bad. This is coupled with an excellently moody cover from Clayton Hickman, that really shows that the devil is in the detail, as it keeps revealing hidden treasures the more you look at it.
Ultimately, though, I don't think anyone's really going to remember Sword Of Orion as anything above average. Sure, it's got a decent premise to it, and it starts out quite interestingly, but as it progresses, it just descends into a sci-fi runaround with silly monsters. It's a shame that Sword turns out so average, because, on paper, it's a decent second outing for the eighth Doctor. I just feel something got a little lost in translation between conception and post-production.
Rating - 5/10
Written & Directed by Nicholas Briggs
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...
After the breathlessly exciting, but ultimately traditional, first story Storm Warning, Big Finish decided to follow it up with another traditional story, filtered for 2001. While Sword Of Orion does use one of the most bog-standard Who plots (base under siege), I don't think that, unlike Storm Warning, Sword Of Orion manages to convey the breathless feeling I was hoping from the eighth Doctor. Sword Of Orion is an ultimately traditional story that very much feels like something that could have been broadcast in the 1980's. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good story, since 80's Who can often be seen in a very negative light. And, while there are good bits about Sword Of Orion, it's mostly average at best.
The main basis of the plot revolves around the machinations of the Cybermen in attempting to convert a group of scavengers, and revive their army. It does feel a little like Tomb Of The Cybermen crossed with The Wheel In Space, which, while interesting, does end up feeling a little derivative. The tone and characterisation is lifted pretty much from Earthshock, with a smattering of other sci-fi horror movies thrown in for good measure. Now, I think that 'patchworking' as I've called it (essentially throwing stories together to create a new one) can work, and can produce interesting results. And while Sword Of Orion has some very interesting ideas going for it, I don't think that it's one of those that quite works. The story very much treads a fine line between being derivative in a fun way, and derivative in a lack of imagination way: sometimes, it's quite enjoyable, particularly the material set in the Bazar and all the little bits featuring the Cybermen talking about revival systems and conversion equipment, but some bits of the story, particularly the inter-personal politics between the salvage crew and Deeva, really just felt a little dull. With a story like this, you need to keep the storyline and the characters interesting, and I just feel that, at times, this didn't happen. The plot slows up at points, with nothing really significant happening. And, while the story is derivative, a plot like this can work, provided you keep the action interesting. However, there's plenty of bits in the story that just slow up and the pace goes completely. With the plot not being anything that hasn't been seen before, it needs to keep itself pacey. However, I think there are times where the story just seems to slow up completely, with the plot not really moving forward at all. Anything of a derivative nature needs to keep itself moving, otherwise it just becomes boring and stale. And there are many points in the story where, truth be told, I was starting to find it boring. This also seeped into the ending, which I felt was very, very rushed in it's attempt to tie everything together and rap it all up. It felt like a rather sudden swerve from the really, really slow burner we'd been stuck in. It ended up feeling like a runaround for a runaround's sake, but with all the life and energy sucked out of it. I commented how Storm Warning had a breathless enthusiasm about it, that allowed you to enjoy it despite a feeling that it's not a plot that is brand new and untested in Doctor Who. However, Sword Of Orion's grim tone and maudlin atmosphere does really work against this story, which was totemic of the same problem that was faced by Eric Saward's Doctor Who, and the mid 80's generally - that a dark tone, coupled with a 'patchworked' story, generally leads to a listener finding your story a little on the dull side. There were parts I did enjoy though (I thought the Bazar sequences were particularly well written), and I wasn't completely indifferent to it, but I did think there wasn't really enough plot to sustain this listener's interest that much unfortunately.
With a story where your plot is a little thin on the ground, what you really need are good, effective, engaging characters to really make your plot stand out. However, to me, I just felt that, like in Storm Warning, they were just the sort of stereotypes you'd find in any latter-day base-under-siege story. There a bit 'hard as nuts', angry characters, who will quite happily point a gun at the Doctor every five seconds, and, for me at least, I don't really find that an interesting character type. Sure, maybe one, or even possible two, characters like that might really work. However, the whole crew are like this, and, unfortunately, I just found them really, really uninteresting. Briggs does have the common sense to try and make Deeva Jansen an interesting character, and she does manage to stand out from the crowd at least a little bit. However, the main problem with Jansen is that the story, in true Moffat style, relies upon a twist about her character, which is pretty guessable if you've got a decent amount of brain cells. As mentioned, she's a little more sympathetic than the rest of the cast, however the main twist regarding her character is simply brushed aside, due to the fact that it's brought up at the end, and is brushed aside in the hurried attempt to end the story. Sure, there is a philosophical point about the character, but that's only really a throwaway line to make comment upon the Cybermen. Of course, Nicholas Briggs' makes this the eighth Doctor's first encounter with the Cybermen, and, while I can see Briggs trying to reinforce the Cybermen as this scary, powerful force, I just felt they came across in the same, weak way that they were portrayed as in some of their late 80's Who stories. Here, at least, they don't just come across as men in tin foil, but I don't think there was the same kind of horror focus that the 60's Cybermen had. As much as I wanted to believe that Briggs had 'got' the concept of the Cybermen, I couldn't say that he had, because I don't think that there's enough of the body horror there for it to be justified. I certainly think that changes across later plays (especially when it comes to the Cyberman mini-series he wrote), but here, I just felt he was missing that key component. When the explanation of what the Cybermen are is boiled down into a two minute scene, and is not a key aspect of the story, I feel that the Cybermen haven't really been captured that effectively. To be honest, the characters really aren't that interesting, and there's not that much more to say about them. The acting is also a little one note, which is rare for a Big Finish production. I thought Michelle Livingstone was decent as Jansen, and Toby Longworth, Mark Gatiss and Helen Goldwyn were ok too. Nicholas Briggs and Alistair Lock's Cybermen voices sounded a little off, but I suppose that's due to the fact that they were done in the 80's style, something that Big Finish have moved away from in recent years, and they weren't at all bad. India Fisher was also great, and while Paul McGann did seem a little unenthused in comparison to the last story, he still put in a great showing, despite the fact that the Doctor and Charley were written for a little generically, possibly because of the fact that this story started life as a part of the unauthorised predecessor to Big Finish, Audio Visuals. However, the rest of the cast just seemed very undistinct, a feeling not helped by Bruce Montague really phoning it in as Grash. Both Ike and Vol sound like they're being played by the same actor who's forgotten to change his voice for each part, and as a result, I really couldn't connect with the characters in the situation, because I couldn't buy the reactions they had to the situation.
It is clear, however, that this story matches what Nicholas Briggs had down on paper, since he was the director and in charge of post-production on this release. While his direction is nothing really spectacular (since I've had so much to say about some of the cast's performances, I can hardly call it good, or even competent), it's decent, and he does the best he can, although I would have hoped he could have brought a bit more flair to the material. His sound design and, in particular, his music, however, is much better. His sound design convincingly creates every environment, and allows the listener to picture it in their mind's eye, something which can make or break a story for some listeners. His music, meanwhile, is his best score to this point, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of this story and it just sounds perfectly foreboding for the events taking place. His little Bazar ditty is slightly annoying, but that's the point: it's meant to be a real earworm, and it's not that bad. This is coupled with an excellently moody cover from Clayton Hickman, that really shows that the devil is in the detail, as it keeps revealing hidden treasures the more you look at it.
Ultimately, though, I don't think anyone's really going to remember Sword Of Orion as anything above average. Sure, it's got a decent premise to it, and it starts out quite interestingly, but as it progresses, it just descends into a sci-fi runaround with silly monsters. It's a shame that Sword turns out so average, because, on paper, it's a decent second outing for the eighth Doctor. I just feel something got a little lost in translation between conception and post-production.
Rating - 5/10
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