It’s time to listen to and discuss Spare Parts
Buy it online using the link above, or listen for free - you’ll find links where to listen free on the story page!
Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.
Everyone who participates will get a coveted Audio Club badge! 
Just for fun, add your rating here:
I’m not sure how much there is to say about this audio that hasn’t been said already. The world building is immaculate, Yvonne’s story is heartbreaking every time, and the only flaws I can think of are The Committee’s voice is unintelligible in places, and the end of the story sort of forgets that this is the Cyber men’s origin, but overall a strong offering from Big Finish.
This is one of the first Main Range audios I listened to simply because everyone told me “listen to this it’s one of the best!!”
I probably didn’t appreciate the format back then, so I didn’t really enjoy it, but I’m looking forward to giving it another shot!
Just gotta catch up on other Main Range stories first.
Last listened to this some time last year and what is there to say that hadn’t been said? Lives up to its reputation and then some. My only criticism is it suffers from early BF “annoying alien voice that doesn’t work for audio only” syndrome, but that doesn’t harm the story enough to stop this from being a 10/10 for me.
It’s been a bit, but this is one of the few big finish audios I’ve listened to, I’d heard it was good, and I remember it as being good. Don’t really have terribly much to say about it, though.
5/5 no questions…
Is this where we reignite the argument about when this story is set… 
time to be controversial!! this story is MASSIVELY overrated… it’s good but it’s not THAT good…
FYI, my review above is extremely badly written. It was one of the first reviews I ever wrote for my marathon and I was still finding my style. I’ve realised the first half is just a recount of the story! Ugh!
The sheer overwhelming tragedy running through this story’s veins is palpable and Davison and Sutton are rarely better than in this story. Oh and the Hartmans…the Hartmans… 
This is definitely a high water mark of early Big Finish: let’s take a bit of unexplored Doctor Who lore, take a slightly less obvious approach to it, and add an emotional core to give the actors something to really dig their teeth into. Yes, the voices can grate a bit at times. Yes, the action is hard to follow in spots. Yes, it solves one canonical problem only to introduce others. But none of that really matters, as the whole transcends individual flaws. One of the greats.
It’s good, it’s obviously good, let’s not pretend it isn’t great.
It’s not perfect for me, I think it drags a lot in the middle sections but I can’t deny how bleak and tragic it is.
Not only that, but I think I’d call this my favourite interpretation of the Cybermen, a villain I don’t think I’ve ever seen be realised as well as they could be.
9/10
Full review here. If you enjoy, feel free to drop a like:
So there has been a LOT of discussion about this one - I might knock up a quick review but I think Spare Parts is basically the Tomb of the audio world except it has the distinction of actually being good instead of pretending to be.
Instead, I’ll pose two questions, one spoilery and one not.
Firstly, the non-spoiler question; Was World Enough and Time a good adaptation of Spare Parts?
Second, my one issue with this story has always been the twist reveal that Five’s brain-scan is the blueprint for all future Mondasian Cybermen. It just feels like a jump-the-shark moment too far for me. It’s working in similar territory to the reveal in Master, which I also don’t think has ever landed. What I’m trying to say is that even though we talk shit about the Timeless Child and Biregeneration, clearly Big Finish weren’t afraid to take some swings at the canon at this point in history either. My question is, does it work for you?
Five is the watcher, the planner. He tends to sit back and examine things and then jump in and save the day once all the pieces are in play. Not necessarily a chessmaster that Seven is but there can often be shades of it. The fascinating thing is that this story plays that against him: by the time the Doctor sees all the pieces put into play, it’s too late. Also put into play everything else everyone has said about this story. It’s very much appreciably one of those GOAT Big Finish releases for a reason.
I think having specifically the Fifth Doctor be the template for the Cybermen is that it makes the tragedy of Adric all the more personally tragic. The Fifth Doctor learns that he personally has allowed the Cybermen’s survival and thus Adric’s death is even more his fault.
According to the wiki, this story has individual episode names: The parts of this audio story have individual names. Part 1 is “Surfacing”, Part 2 is “Necessary Force”, Part 3 is “Popping the Seals”, and Part 4 is “Shelter”.
This was a point I hadn’t truly considered, and does make it land in a different, more immediate way.
This is without contest the best Fifth Doctor story that I have consumed. 5/5
So much this. Most 5th Doctor audios are forgettable and boring, especially early on in the MR, so this is miles above that.
Most of my feelings about Spare Parts have already been mentioned above - the story is riveting, dramatic and original; the performances are superb, not least from Davison and Sutton who are at their very best (arguably better than they ever were on TV, but I’m not a Five and Nyssa fan, so that might just be me). Marc Platt finally provides a story with superb worldbuilding, fleshed-out characters and deep emotional layers that aren’t overly complex or experimental. Sure, the Cyber voices can be a bit difficult to make out at times and the middle parts drag a little bit, but the sheer depth of the story and its implications on the lore as well as the genuinely scary, heartbreaking and tense moments it offers makes this one of the best Cyberman/BF/Five/audio stories ever.
A flat 10/10!
Was incredibly excited for this one! The other story that’s considered so legendary that they rereleased it on vinyl.
I dont know what to say, it’s a good story can’t deny that. Though it didn’t hit me really like Chimes.
The one really emotional moment was an absolute high point, and the rest just remained at a steady quality of pretty good for me. Sadly enough just not as over the moon about it as most people seem to be…
I feel like I’ve missed parts honestly. The conclusion at the end was really just Cybermen good now, oh actually just kidding? That fell a little flat for me as well. (Still 9/10 i mean isgood)
I’m with @BSCTDrayden and @deltaandthebannermen on this one. A true and stone cold classic. Why? I mean, what hasn’t already been said. For me, aside from the wonderful characterisation and heartbreaking storyline, it’s the fact that…
…the Cybermen have long been one of my favourite DW creations and yet so many of their stories simply fail to deliver on their promise. Spare Parts (surely a huge inspiration behind the equally marvellous World Enough and Time) absolutely delivers on the themes of body horror, that techno-medical dystopian nightmare that no other DW creation can really match. It’s chilling. It’s atmospheric.
And, you know what?
I actually really like the almost unintelligible nature of the Committee’s voice. I always loved the burbling sound of the Cyber Planner in The Invasion and for similar reasons. You can make out what is being said, but you have to pay attention. It isn’t there to make it easy for us. It’s another indication that the technological advancements they have made have come at the expense of humanity. Perhaps I’m weird, but I like that! I think there are worse audio alien voices.
