I must admit jumping through the 9DA every now and then doesn't fullfill me as much as I would have hoped. Don't get me wrong I am far away from having listened to all of his Stories or a lot of them to properly judge it, that said.. I feel a bit underwhelmed by a lot of them, even if Eccelston is a joy to listen to.

That said.. I was VERY excited for this one. I love Metropolis, for me this is easily the best German Movie ever made. Visually stunning, a Rich Story and a lot more but that's probably a Discussion to be had at another Time. And the Cybermen are such a great Idea, when they are used well, they are used so well.

Unfortunatley I feel like the Setting of the Set of Metropolis could be swapped with most other Film Sets, this Story doesn't tie as much into the Themes of the Film as I would have hoped for.

Fortunatley, that said.. This is still amazing. The Cybermen we get here is such an interesting one, by no means totally unique, but a very interesting one. A Cybermen who is basically used as a Puppet to somebody else's Benefits is such a good Idea and is used quite well. 9 has a great Part in the Story and I REALLY enjoyed the Ending, with both of them watching Metropolis together.

And I would lie if I didn't say that having a Doctor Who Story about or at least set in the Metropolis Set is so much fun! And Fun is the best word to describe this one, while this is by no means one of the deepest or greatest Cybermen Stories we got, this is still such a fun Outing! And a worthy one for the ninth Doctor! A True Highlight of that Range!

Monsters In Metropolis

I remember first hearing about a story with cybermen on the set of Metropolis and thinking ‘oh god.’ I knew it was either going to be a tired retread of the celebrity historical formula like these things often are or, hopefully, a thoughtful and thoroughly researched use of a setting that has massive potential for a Doctor Who story. I was admittedly quite nervous because the franchise does not always use these historical settings to their full potential *cough* Devil’s Chord *cough*. What I heard instead was a beautifully made and original observation on the Cybermen which clearly comes from someone with deep respect and affection for the source materials on which it was based. John Dorney once again proves himself to be a very brilliant addition to Big Finish’s writers. My only downside is it is not on television, because it would be absolute stunning. 10/10.

Does John Dorney ever miss??? Cybermen in a film shoot is a wonderful premise, and it's executed extremely well.

A+. Maybe A.

I'm listening my way through The Ninth Doctor Adventures and Monsters in Metropolis is my favourite so far.

The use of a Cyberman in the iconic role within Metropolis makes for a new twist on their race (a similar fresh take also happened in the, more recently released, Sins of the Flesh within the Everywhere and Anywhere boxset).  It's a level of creativity I'd love to see used more often with the Daleks.

The Ninth Doctor's first response to seeing the Cyberman is evocative of the TV episode Dalek, bringing a real sense of danger as Eccleston did in 2005.  And, similar to Dalek, we get to develop a sense of sadness and even empathy for the Cyberman as an increased level of awareness and free-will is exhibited.

A comparison between the ethos of the Cyber-race and the Nazi's creed (with our knowledge that World War Two is on the horizon) brings a sci-fi mirror up to human behaviour; adding the comfort-blanket of distance to allow us the freedom to reflect on what this might mean for us and events around the world - all the more relevant (from an international perspective) at the time of writing this review than at the time of the story's release.

Using the location of the film set of Metropolis adds a sense of occasion and grandeur to the story, and the timing and setting provides a chilling, powerful final message as it draws to a close.

Both a fast-paced and a thoughtful piece, Monsters in Metropolis doesn't hold its punches and, within this range, provides Christopher Eccleston with arguably the best material to sink his acting teeth into yet.

I came into this audio very excited thanks to it's very positive reception among fans.

Sadly this might have set me up for disappointment. By no means was this a bad Cybermen story and I really liked how it takes place against the backdrop of early cinema history. That leads to a very distinct and unique story for these recurring Doctor Who enemies.

Outside of some standout moments like the Doctor reacting to the Cyberman and some good horror scenes with the Cyberman and some of the characters, I didn't quite find this as memorable or as moving as I was hoping for. I like the story enough, it just didn't affect me emotionally much nor draw me in, so I didn't get that good sense of pay-off you want in the story. Still, I can appreciate it is well-made and interesting. I just wish more were done with the idea of this taking place around the production of Metropolis. That's a really neat movie but the idea feels a bit underplayed - Monsters in Metropolis really feels like it could have taken place around any film set and the story would be functionally the same. So we aren't really using Metropolis here. Maybe it is because I most love that movie through its visuals and that is pretty much lost entirely to the audio format. I would love to see this adapted for the show for that reason.