Sword of Orion (audio story)

 was the seventeenth monthly Doctor Who audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. This was a double first, being the first Big Finish story to feature the Cybermen, and the first Eighth Doctor story to feature the Cybermen. This is also another of Big Finish's stories which was originally created as part of the Audio Visuals, a fan produced series which featured many people who went onto create and work for Big Finish and BBV Productions. Nicholas Briggs filled many roles in the production of this story — he provided the voice of the Cybermen, sound design, music, direction, and writing.

Publisher's summary
The human race is locked in deadly combat with the "Android Hordes" in the Orion System. Light years from the front line, the Eighth Doctor and Charley arrive to sample the dubious delights of a galactic backwater, little suspecting that the consequences of the Orion War might reach them there. But High Command's lust for victory knows no bounds.

Trapped aboard a mysterious, derelict star destroyer, the Doctor and Charley find themselves facing summary execution. But this is only the beginning of their troubles. The real danger has yet to awaken.

Until, somewhere in the dark recesses of the Garazone System, the Cybermen receive the signal for reactivation...

Part 1
Charley is worried about Ramsey looking ill. She and the Doctor can't carry him to the control room and Ramsey is dying from being away too long from the time vortex. The Doctor decides that there is one way to restore Ramsey back to health, but doesn’t tell Charley, who is flustered to know.

2503. The Orion War continues to rage and a ship called the Silver Jackal receives contact from a patrol ship. Onboard the Silver Jackal, Digly convinces the patrol ship to leave so they can salvage an area in space. Digly wakes up Captain Thinnes and then picks up something on radar—an abandoned star destroyer. Captain Thinnes decides to go onboard the star destroyer to investigate and find “souvenirs”.

Captain Thinnes and Digly don their spacesuits and enter the star destroyer. They sense a foul stench onboard, but before they continue, something heads towards them. They open fire, but it is not harmed. They retreat, but they are killed by the figure.

The TARDIS lands in a bazaar on the Garazone Central. Charley tries to communicate with a merchant to get help for Ramsey, but Charley is slightly disturbed by the merchant’s suggestive compliments to her. She gives up and meets up with the Doctor, who also hasn’t found anything. The Doctor and Charley then check out another shop in the bazaar and decide to look around. The Doctor convinces the shopkeeper, Ike, that they are Customs and Excise officials so they can browse peacefully and the Doctor comes across a recorder. The Doctor and Charley then find a golden plated Cyber head in the shop and the Doctor recognizes it.

Outside, Ike contacts a man named Grash and Ike expresses concern about the disappearances of Thinnes and Digly as well as the Silver Jackal. Grash orders him to calm down, but Ike thinks that his shop is about to be “rumbled” by two individuals. Grash then tells Ike that Captain Obermann has been transferred to the Vanguard. And a new captain has been brought onboard and brought forward the disembarkation time. Grash urgently tells Ike to leave the shop and get to the docking bay immediately.

Back in the shop, Charley asks the Doctor the length of the Cyber-War. The Doctor answers that it was a very long time and informs her that the Cybermen remain in their tombs on Telos for the time being. The Doctor and Charley then notice that Ike has abandoned them. Charley thinks that he has gone to get his “smuggler friends” to beat them to a pulp, but the Doctor disagrees. Charley reminds the Doctor that he told Ike where the TARDIS was and confirms that the Doctor is indeed worried. The Doctor orders Charley to take a “grav-pad” and the nearby book of ancient remedies. Charley protests that this would be theft, but the Doctor remarks that it’s probably stolen anyway and they run from the shop.

A man named Vol contacts the Vanguard captain from the docking bay. The Captain asks for the status of the supplies. Vol answers that they are in place, but he has to check each of them. The Captain responds that this would take too long and they are to load them immediately, disobeying procedures.

The Doctor and Charley activate the grav-pads, which excite Charley and head to the warehouse, where the TARDIS is parked. They then spot the TARDIS being loaded onto the Vanguard as cargo. Charley sees that the cargo number is 38B. The Doctor then tells Charley that they have less than ten minutes to get onboard before it takes off. Ike arrives onboard and Captain Jensen orders Vol to blast them off. The Vanguard leaves the docking bay.

It is then revealed that the Doctor and Charley were successful in stowing away onboard thanks to the sonic screwdrivier. They then begin to search for the TARDIS in the cargo area for 38B. Charley feels a vibration on the wall and the Doctor confirms that this is from some sort of interstellar drive for ship that is moving really fast. The Doctor sees that the Vanguard is a scrap ship and wonders why they are in such a hurry. Charley sees that they are now in 38A, but then hear a noise that indicates that there may be something wrong with the engines.

On the bridge, a proximity alarm sounds and Vol then orders Ike to cut the power on the engines. The engines die just when Charley finds 38B, but the Doctor remarks that they better get off the ship because cutting off the engines in midflight of this ship is dangerous.

The Vanguard then picks up on radar that they have come across an abandoned star destroyer. Captain Jensen orders a maneuver, but the engines have been cut off. Jensen reluctantly orders to initiate the hyperdrive. Ike and Vol protest that they just cut the engine off and that restarted would be dangerous and would also take time to power up again. Jensen insists her orders.

The Doctor and Charley come across the TARDIS and enter. The Doctor runs to the console and patches the TARDIS’ scanner to visual transmission of the Vanguard, meaning that from the TARDIS, they’ll be able to see what the Vanguard sees. They then see that there is a cold-looking star destroyer in front of the Vanguard. Charley sees that the star destroyer is moving towards them, but the Doctor sees that rather the Vanguard is moving towards it. The Doctor rushes the controls and decides it’s time to go. The TARDIS then stops suddenly. The Doctor then sees that the TARDIS has been caught in the Vanguard’s warp field, preventing them from travelling away. Ramsey would feel better from the temporal time feedback that surged when the TARDIS failed to leave. The warp field’s energy has dissipated and the TARDIS has materialized. It feels cold and Charley senses a foul stench. The Doctor and Charley look outside the TARDIS and realized that they have landed onboard the star destroyer.

Grash and Captain Jensen argue about spacewalking, but Jensen offers to double their bonuses if they investigate. Grash then takes crew members Chev and Kelsey to investigate.

On the star destroyer, the Doctor and Charley hear the sounds of the Vanguard crew approaching from afar. The Doctor decides that it’s time to leave, but as they approach the TARDIS, they hear a howling sound. The crew members hear this as well and decide to split up. Crew member Kelsey then discovers the TARDIS. Kelsey calls out for the others to look at what he found just when an unseen figure appears and attacks him. The figure utters “destroy”.

Part 2
to be added

Part 3
to be added

Part 4
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * Charley Pollard - India Fisher
 * Thinnes - Mark Gatiss
 * Digly - Barnaby Edwards
 * Ike - Ian Marr
 * Grash - Bruce Montague
 * Vol - Hylton Collins
 * Deeva Jansen - Michelle Livingstone
 * Chev - Helen Goldwyn
 * Kelsey - Toby Longworth
 * The Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs, Alistair Lock

Real World

 * Charley mentions Aladdin's cave.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor finds a recorder in the smugglers shop and plays it to Charley; he has lost practice. (TV: The Power of the Daleks et al.)
 * The Doctor tells Charley to grab a book and take it with them from the smugglers' shop without paying for it. Charley makes note of this but the Doctor claims that "it's probably stolen anyway".
 * While on board the star destroyer the Doctor mentions feeling something waking up, unknowingly referencing his encounter with the Cybermen on Telos in his second incarnation. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen)

Conflicts

 * The Orion War began eight years earlier in 2495.

Cybermen

 * A Cybermat is present on the Cybermen's ship.

Weapons

 * Deeva has in her possession a powerful gun which is able to destroy Cybermen.

Continuity

 * Ramsay is feeling sick for being outside the Time Vortex for too long. (AUDIO: Storm Warning)
 * The Cybermen refer to their encounter with the Doctor on Planet 14. (TV: The Invasion)
 * A secret government organisation called Scorpius was formed in the aftermath of the Sword of Orion incident. (AUDIO: Scorpius)