Doctor Who: Hour of the Cybermen

This is a sequel to the decidedly mediocre The Helliax Rift. Fortunately, it's a lot better than that was, and, also fortunately, you don't need to have listened to it to understand this.

The main problem with the previous part of this three-part plot arc is that, medical officer Hopkins aside, nobody in it is at all sympathetic. I specifically noted in my review for that that the new commanding officer of UNIT was “unredeemable”. Well, here he is redeemed, although largely by acting in a completely different way so that he doesn't even feel like the same character. To be fair, this is set at least six years later, and probably more (i.e. it's now the early '90s), so perhaps he's learned with age - in real life people, do, in fact, change.

The story also builds on Hopkins, who has also changed from when we last saw him, and for reasons that are properly explored. Indeed, that's as much a key part of the story as the central plot about the Cybermen trying to take over the Earth by destroying its water supply. Which gives us a pretty decent story, with plenty of UNIT-based military actions, some twists along the way, and a few bits of actual science.

There are a couple of negative points. Firstly, there's only one female character in it, who acts as the companion-stand-in, although with British army v Cybermen that's perhaps difficult to avoid. More gratingly, at least for me, these are the '80s TV version of the Cybermen, who sound a bit too human - and, at times, emotional - for my tastes. But, again, one can't complain too much when this is specifically trying to emulate the '80s TV show. Those with fonder memories of those specific Cybermen may find this to be a plus, since they're rarely used in Big Finish.