I thought this was a beautiful story, I enjoyed it. There were some parts that were a little confusing but frankly that’s normal for audio dramas, I thought the best part was the ending because it plays so strongly on emotion
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The plot might be a little eh, but that doesn’t really matter. I find its main sell is the atmosphere that is almost horror-like. There is almost not a single scene not filled with uneasiness. Like there is always a Cyberman or any of their mind controlled mates lurking in the shadows, and you can’t do anything about em.
I am also quite fond of the really obvious android~human war stuff. Not necessarily original, but still competently executed.
So basically im a sucker for ‘atmosphere’ which i use whenever i cant competently explain why i like something whatcha gonna do about it
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Am I the only one who would like a return to the Garazone Bazaar? I kinda like that ringtone in the background. Also, I think the only other we’ve visited here was the awful Nekromanteia (he says as he quickly checks the wiki). Okay, so it also appears or is at least mentioned in The Human Factor from the Daleks Empire series and Beautiful Chaos, a Tenth Doctor/Donna novel.
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It drives me barmy! (I may have mentioned that…)
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You have. I still kind of like it. It adds to the atmosphere of the place.
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So, for me, this is great audio. The Doctor and Charley are great as always, and while not terribly memorable, the guest cast is competent. The atmosphere in this one is its real drawing point as it captures the “space salvagers meets cybermen” vibe excellently. For me, this is another piece of audio that, while not true confort Who, comes fairly close. It feels like an 80’s or 90’s space sci-fi flick that isn’t quite true horror, but has that gritty mysterious edge to it. This is like Alien, if it had Cybermen instead of Xenomorphs and the Doctor instead of Ripley.
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I’ve not heard this one in a while, but I have heard it twice and very much enjoyed it both times, despite some trepidation the second time as most people I know seem to find it very dull. But no, I think it’s really good, better than Storm Warning (which I also like), and only not my favorite of the first McGann audio season because Minuet in Hell is just too fun.
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I’m falling behind in the Audio Club 
I listened to this one today and actually rather enjoyed it (though I listened to it right after Four from Doom’s Day, and I would have enjoyed absolutely anything after hearing Sooz Kempner try to sound like Peter Capaldi 
).
There’s a lot of good world-building with the Orion war between the humans and the androids over android rights, but the plot of the story is pretty straightforward. Not sure if there was enough story for a full-length main range, it felt like it could have been cut down to a single one hour episode like the Lucie Miller ones.
Charley and 8 are really good together, but then again Paul McGann is good with anyone 
3,5/5 
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I recently started listening to the Eighth Doctor’s audios in order and Sword of Orion was like my third or fourth audio from Paul McGann. I never really knew his Doctor so I decided I would want to dig into his “first” series of audiodramas. Starting with the TV Movie till Zagreus and everything in between (like the new Charley boxset and short trips). I’m very new to this site and to audio dramas because I’ve only started listening in February, but let us get started.
Release Date: 26 February 2001
Listening Date: 26 May 2024
Runtime: 2:03:18
For me this whole story felt incredibly dull from the previous story. It was a much slower story in pace but for me it just didn’t work. The Doctor and Charley basically going from one ship to another. I mainly liked the first and last part of the story. I think the plost twist was incredible and was quite emotional for me and I also The Great Cyberwar was mentioned and was the main focus of the whole story which was quite fascinating actually. So my rating is a 6/10 because it wasn’t that bad, it was just dull.
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I recently updated my old review for ‘Sword of Orion’ from the other site, and it’s now available to read here on TARDIS Guide.
‘Sword of Orion’ appears to be something of a divisive adventure - one I fully admit to hating the first few times I tried listening to it.
Considering this was Charley’s first foray through time and space, I would’ve preffered a bit more focus on her - which is why think this story and ‘The Stones of Venice’ should’ve been switched round.
But really, it’s an atmospheric gem that pays homage to classics like the original Alien film.
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Is it fair to say that Sword of Orion is formulaic, but in all the right ways? If there was a by-the-numbers televised Doctor Who story featuring the cybermen, it would be very much like this. Weirdly, televised cybermen stories seldom feel as cyberman as this does. The atmosphere is great, with the soundscape conveying scale and environment very effectively indeed. McGann is seemingly completely at home with the character. This is very much a story that I would love to have seen televised with McGann. Oddly, I do kind of feel like I HAVE seen it, because of that sense of familiarity. Yeah, I love this one. 
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Trying to catch up with the Audio Club after being away! I listened to this yesterday. Well, I first tried to listen a couple of days ago but then realised when I got to the ending of the first part I hadn’t really been paying attention, so I re-listened.
It was just all a bit dull, I think. Not the best story. It got better towards the end, and I enjoyed the music and the atmosphere, but it was an awful lot of running around old spaceships and talking about androids. I was anticipating something really cool with the Orion War but it’s just a bit of a cliche really.
I think other people above me have said some really good points, and I enjoyed reading @turnoftheearth’s description about it more than listening to the actual audio, lol.
2.5/5 from me!
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I can’t for the life of me get behind a lot of Cybermen stories, I think there are outstanding ones for sure, the World Enough and Time two parter is one of my favorite stories hands down, but a lot of them turn out, for me, on the more meh side. This one is one of the meh ones for me sadly. It’s well acted, nice soundscape, but the story itself doesn’t grab me too terribly much.
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It sort of plods along doesn’t it? It’s a bit on the boring end and everything it does have going on is very “been there, done that”. The first and only time I listened to this would’ve been back around 2021 so maybe I’d view it more charitably now. Not keen on Cyber hypnosis either, it doesn’t really suit them and I never like when it comes up.
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I listened to this back in 2017 and after two aborted relistens this year I finally completed a listen through and I enjoyed it. Yes, it’s a fairly generic story and it is already fading from my mind but it has a lovely atmosphere and some great music. Eight and Charley are lovely together too.
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Finally getting caught up on the audio club. Honestly, everyone who says to skip this one is right. While Storm Warning had more things that were egregious, at least it was fun, and it did something new and interesting. This is your most basic Cyberman story, and it’s extremely dull. As they say, the worst thing a Doctor Who story can be is boring. 2/5
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What can I say that hasn’t already been said? There was nothing wrong with this story, it was entertaining and felt like authentic Doctor Who. There just wasn’t anything particularly original about it.
The best thing about it was that Paul McGann was totally at home as the Doctor here, and his incarnation is taking on an irreverent cheeky aspect that distinguishes him from the other BF incarnations and gives him his own unique personality.
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Same here.
There was a brilliant atmosphere right from the start, drawing me into the story. A real audio experience.
I would argue Part 1 was the best, and the ending did not quite stick the landing. But overall, for me, a clear 4/5.
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I’m very late to this thread, but I just thought I’d comment on it, given that I finished Sword of Orion today.
I’ve tried to start it for the last three days, but I found it extremely dull in every sense of the word. There were redeeming qualities, yes, like McGann really beginning to come into his own as the Doctor. I can definitely see that he enjoys the role, and Charley is a good companion (so far). I just… don’t like the story. I can appreciate that it’s well-written in places, but there were certain story elements (not sure how well spoilers go down here, so I’ll refrain) that I feel came from nowhere. It hasn’t stopped me from continuing with the MR McGann stuff though, so don’t worry!
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You can hide spoilers by clicking the little cogwheel icon when making a new post, then use “blur spoilers”.
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