Sword of Orion is the second adventure for the Eighth Doctor and Charley and it is also the first adventure featuring the Cybermen. Doctor Who’s silver enemy finally makes an appearance. The story could quite possibly have been made for TV as it has all the classic elements. The opening scene was very eerie and made me think of Earthshock in many ways. Nicholas Briggs wrote and directed this story as well as doing the Cybermen voices.
I liked the whole feel of it. The sound effects and the music help creates a wonderful eerie setting. The Cybermen’s appearance in the story doesn’t dominate or dictate the story. Charley seems to be adjusting quite well to live out of 1930’s Earth. A bit too well as her reaction to meeting the Cybermen isn’t quite what I would have given. She does do the classic companion thing of standing up for an alien race which is what she does when the Orion Androids have problems. There are faults with this story. The build up to the Cybermen’s arrival was drawn out a bit too long. Now in the good old days of a familiar character’s return it would happen at the end of the first episode. Not the end of the second.
Paul McGann is doing a grand job in showing what he would have been like had the TV movie moved into a full series. All the comic strips and novels in the world wouldn’t show how good McGann would be as a Doctor. India Fisher is also very good as Charley, her reaction to life outside of 1930 might seem a bit too blasé for my liking but that’s a minor issue from a character that shows promise.
As a Cybermen story its not the greatest that it could have been. I was hoping for more from the metal monsters but the story was a nice progressive one for the Eighth Doctor and Charley partnership.
I liked the whole feel of it. The sound effects and the music help creates a wonderful eerie setting. The Cybermen’s appearance in the story doesn’t dominate or dictate the story. Charley seems to be adjusting quite well to live out of 1930’s Earth. A bit too well as her reaction to meeting the Cybermen isn’t quite what I would have given. She does do the classic companion thing of standing up for an alien race which is what she does when the Orion Androids have problems. There are faults with this story. The build up to the Cybermen’s arrival was drawn out a bit too long. Now in the good old days of a familiar character’s return it would happen at the end of the first episode. Not the end of the second.
Paul McGann is doing a grand job in showing what he would have been like had the TV movie moved into a full series. All the comic strips and novels in the world wouldn’t show how good McGann would be as a Doctor. India Fisher is also very good as Charley, her reaction to life outside of 1930 might seem a bit too blasé for my liking but that’s a minor issue from a character that shows promise.
As a Cybermen story its not the greatest that it could have been. I was hoping for more from the metal monsters but the story was a nice progressive one for the Eighth Doctor and Charley partnership.
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