Doctor Who - Sword of Orion Online
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278j9 [Download pdf ebook] Doctor Who - Sword of Orion Online [278j9.ebook] Doctor Who - Sword of Orion Pdf Free Nicholas Briggs DOC | *audiobook | ebooks | Download PDF | ePub Download Now Free Download Here Download eBook #124936 in Audible 2016-03-07Format: UnabridgedOriginal language:EnglishRunning time: 128 minutes | File size: 40.Mb Nicholas Briggs : Doctor Who - Sword of Orion before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Doctor Who - Sword of Orion: 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Cybermen will surviveBy Zachary W. DyerThis story over all is very good, the only falling short is the Cybermen themselves. Had it been more of a surprise I would have loved it more. Saddly it's a well known part of Doctor Who history to have a lot of the surprises spoiled. But this time it wasn't spoiled by the title it's ruined by the cover art.Other then that the Cybermen have a relatively simple scheme, find Humanoid life and Proccess it.The real story is to do with the mystery behind the Sword of Orion. The problem is you have no sense of this mystery until the very end.What really made this episode shine is the Characters, I loved the play between all the crewman, and how the story easily incorparated a lot of the cleche's of Doctor Who without making them to over the top.Sword of Orion with all it's flaws is still fun to listen to, the Cybermen have some terrific scenes with the Doctor and oddly enough he runs rings around them logically to defeat them.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Good Old Fashioned Doctor Who AdventureBy Matthew KresalFollowing on from the events of Storm Warning, the eighth Doctor and his new companion Charley soon find themselves a few hundred years in the future visiting first a futuristic space port and then facing the silver giants known as the Cybermen. After the triumphant beginning of Storm Warning Big Finish choose to take a still relatively new Doctor up against an old enemy in a story that is steeped well in Doctor Who tradition. While perhaps a bit too traditional, if not predictable, at times, Sword Of Orion is still a good old fashioned Doctor Who adventure.Both Paul McGann and India Fisher build on their strong performances from the previous story. Given that this is essential a traditional style story it's interesting to note just how good the performances are out of both McGann and Fisher as both bring their distinctive performances to what are effectively archetype characters of the Doctor and companion. The chemistry between them present in the previous story continues here as well and it is especially apparent during the first episode in particular. McGann is also given a bit more exposition to say in this story as well such as the absolutely haunting reading he gives of the Cybermen's back-story to Charley. While the writing may be archetypes. The performances sure aren't and the story is all the better for it.The supporting cast is good as well. Michelle Livingstone gives a nice performance as scrap ship captain Deeva Jansen who is far more then she first seems to be. Bruce Montangue, who I rather disliked in his role of Chief Librarian Elgin in Big Finish's The Genocide Machine, gives a much better performance here as the rather tough and even unlikeable Grash. The scrap ship crew consisting of actors Helen Goldwyn, Ian Marr, Hylton Collins and Toby Longworth come across rather well in their respective roles. Not to forget the brief appearances of Mark Gatiss and Barnaby Edwards in the story's beginning either. All told it's a good supporting cast all round.Then, of course, there's the Cybermen themselves. In there first Big Finish appearance the silver giants are voiced by Nicholas Briggs and Alistair Lock and their work captures the voices of the Cybermen from their 1980's appearances spot on. The Cybermen come across rather well as both a threat to the characters and has characters facing a threat themselves. That said the Cybermen do take ages to show up and star having any real type of effect on the plot which seems rather odd considering that unlike say Earthshock where their late appearance was meant to be a surprise, this story puts them on the front cover and gets nearly half way through the story before they start making a sizable impact on the story. While it might not be their best appearance the Cybermen do get a nice audio debut here and certainly better the Daleks got.The post-production of the story was done by Nicholas Briggs, who also wrote and directed it as well. Briggs post-production work is pretty good in establishing the places in which the story takes place such as the electronic yet recognizably Arabic bazaar music in the first episode. Briggs also adds little touches such as the sound of breathing and slightly muffled voices of characters while they are wearing space suits for example. In terms of the quality of its post-production Sword Of Orion is as good as any other Big Finish audio.The script on the other hand is a different story as it is effectively a "Doctor Who story by numbers." The script is adapted from a story Briggs wrote back in the 1980's for the Audio Visuals series of fan audios which was, as Briggs has said, deliberately written that way and became quite popular back in the day. Having listened to that version there's a lot of that story here especially once the story leaves the space port behind and the scrap ship heads out into space. The problem with the script is the very fact that it's a "by the numbers" story which contains many of the cliches of the Cybermen's appearances in the original TV series. These range from their late appearance in the story to them menacing an isolated group of humans right down to the return of the worm like Cybermats. The problem is that the story becomes quite predictable which makes much of Briggs attempt to create atmosphere and suspense downright futile at times. The story does get a boost from the inclusion of a subplot regarding the far off war with Androids in the Orion system and how it all relates to the events of the story which keeps the story from being entirely predictable. While I like traditional style stories this one is just too traditional for its own good.While suffering from being a far too traditional story, Sword Of Orion has its pluses. It has fine performances from McGann and Fisher, good performances from its supporting cast and some fine post-production work to boot. While it might not be the best of the eighth Doctor audios if you enjoy the more traditional stories or want to get all of the Doctor's up against the second longest running villains of the series, you'll enjoy this. Otherwise this is a good adventure but nothing spectacular.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. "They turned the burning light of their technology on something they felt was holding them back."By Crazy FoxThe Eighth Doctor, as played by Paul McGann: most prolific, or least? Well, it rather depends. In terms of television, this incarnation has but merely one appearance, the ill-fated 1996 TV movie meant to kickstart the program's revival to no avail. One almost feels McGann was cheated, given a chance at this iconic role only to have it snatched away. And to the degree that "Doctor Who" is after all primarily a TV show, that's indeed about the long and short of it. And yet the Eighth Doctor would go on for years to star in other media, especially radio dramas such as "Sword of Orion" here, thus in a way extending McGann's tenure and gradually generating an impressively massive multitude of adventures.All of which is mostly Terra Incognito for me. As a fan, I tend to cleave pretty closely to the television series and for the most part leave it at that. Idle curiosity, though, and the sight of one of my particularly favorite villains, the Cybermen, led me to "Sword of Orion" kind of on a lark.All in all, it's a thoroughly enjoyable tale, one that feels familiarly "Doctor Who" in spirit. Maybe just a tad too familiar. The plot comes across somewhat as little more than a clever recapitulation of "Tomb of the Cybermen"--only with a derelict spaceship instead of an underground installation and a team of salvage collectors instead of archaeologists. This effect seems the result less of intentional mimicry than unconscious influence, however. Paul McGann's fine vocal portrayal of the Doctor gives the story its own particularly unique feel, just as intriguing twists, interesting characters, and startlingly horrific motifs all manage to keep the listener thoroughly engaged in what's going on. The well-crafted dialogue carries the unfolding plot along in a compelling way that never seems artificial--you know, in that stilted way radio dramas can be prone to. Most of all, though, "Sword of Orion" succeeds wonderfully in asking that fundamental question any Cyberman tale should ask: just what is it that makes us human? The human race is locked in deadly combat with the android hordes in the Orion System.