The Eighth Doctor and Charley get caught in the cross-fire of the Orion war. Things only get worse when the Cybermen are revived from hibernation.
The Eighth Doctor and Charley get caught in the cross-fire of the Orion war. Things only get worse when the Cybermen are revived from hibernation.
SWORD OF ORION
After the biggest misfire to that point in the range, Big Finish required a strong rebound in its second Paul McGann production. Redrafting an old Nicholas Briggs Audio Visuals script was a perfectly reasonable idea, as the result would essentially be known in advance — and Briggs’ reworked script is a very solid, if unmemorable, entry into the Doctor Who canon.
Sword of Orion has suffered a great deal of fan criticism, most of it revolving around the fact that the play is mostly derivative, coming across as something of a Cyberman “greatest hits” compilation. Quite why this is inherently bad is unclear, given that most of Doctor Who wasn’t exactly shockingly original, but I’m willing to bet that the criticism stems from the fact that Sword of Orion reminds one of an Eric Saward story. It’s very similar — a very dark, gritty scifi tale featuring large, empty spaceships and a creeping menace in the shadows. Sure, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s done very well — the characters convey fear when necessary and the resident bad guys are suitably intimidating. Though it’s no surprise when the Cybermen turn up at the conclusion of part 1, their apparent insanity is enough to put a scare into the listener. The conclusion, with everyone dead save the Doctor and Charley, is also quite Sawardian in execution.
I mentioned in my review of The Mutant Phase that Briggs usually does very well with the small details but struggles with the overarching elements, and this is again the case. I adore the opening scenes of Sword of Orion at the bazaar — this is exactly the sort of thing we should see more of in Doctor Who, the TARDIS making intermediary stops at backwater locations. It’s incredibly alien, especially that repeated tone that seems to infuriate some reviewers, and I love it to bits. Unfortunately, the actual plot of the play doesn’t make too much sense, as the Cybermen seem to act for the sake of dramatic convenience rather than out of any sense of logic. The revelation about Jansen is painfully obvious, and her subordinates seem to blend together.
Paul McGann’s second outing as the eighth Doctor is another success, as he retains that infectious enthusiasm seen throughout Storm Warning. His confrontations with the Cyberleader are very amusing, as he positively delights in pointing out logical flaws in the villain’s arguments. Admittedly, his role isn’t the strongest, but that just adds to the Sawardian feel — McGann is more than capable of dominating a play despite not being given the full power of the spotlight.
India Fisher’s second outing is much more tolerable than her first, though it still features elements which annoyed me to no end. Despite my love of the bazaar setting, Charley’s behavior — completely patronizing and totally unimpressed — almost put me off the scene. Briggs writes her as an Edwardian Benny minus the alcoholism; Charley is all bad jokes and sarcastic quips in the face of giant awful metal men. Every now and then, she’s given the chance to mispronounce the name of some future technology to remind us that yes, she’s actually from the past, but you couldn’t tell from the rest of the performance.
The supporting cast, as mentioned above, tends to blend together. They’re spiky, hard-boiled scifi cliches, with Collins, Marr, and Montague turning in solid performances. Michelle Livingston does a fine job as Jansen but her character is simply too obvious to be gripping. As for the Cybermen, Nicholas Briggs and Alistair Lock provide excellent voice work. Much like the new Dalek voices in The Genocide Machine, it takes time to get used to a Cyberman voiced by someone other than David Banks, but these voices and performances are nicely distinctive.
As with his other scripts, Nicholas Briggs ran the entire production of Sword of Orion, and it shows. As writer, he knows exactly how everything should sound, and as director he knows exactly how to put it all together — plus his sound design is very good. Some of the effects are a bit confusing, and the opening scene with Ramsay is utterly incomprehensible (and terrible), but overall this is yet another strong production effort for the range.
Much like the earlier The Apocalypse Element, this is a big-budget scifi epic featuring an old enemy but lacking much original thought. Much like that play, this is savaged by people who refuse to accept that Doctor Who sometimes isn’t the most original show ever produced. But unlike scripts such as The Sirens of Time or The Genocide Machine, there isn’t actually anything wrong with Sword of Orion — it’s just nothing new. For that, I’m supposed to give it a bad grade? No — it’s an enjoyable way to spend two hours and it’s so much better than Storm Warning it’s almost unfair.
Recommended, just don’t expect a revolution.
6/10