This is a really great story - While this is incredibly similar to Revenge of the Cybermen, it felt a lot more serious, which works in its favour.

It was lovely revisiting this Doctor - Tom Baker gives it his all as always, you can tell how much effort he still puts into the role, and let's hope we continue to get more of the Fourth Doctor in years to come! Sadie and Christopher do quite a great job at impersonating Sarah and Harry, the latter especially - There are a few moments where Miller doesn't exactly sound like her mother, but no-one can replace the amazing Liz Sladen and I think it's a good enough job. Harry is one of my favourite characters from this story - The action hero mixed with the traditional chauvinist values makes for a very unique and fresh character, especially when clashing with a feminist like Sarah Jane. Overall, I love how much the story indulges in this trio, as it's a team I don't think they've ever had a go at - I hope that the next season of the Fourth Doctor Adventures features this TARDIS team, it'd be great to get some original stories from them.

The Cybermen sound brilliant, and their tone and actions in this story feel very similar to the 60s interpretation of these mosnters. It's a very simple plot, and it does help to know what the TV story is like to compare, otherwise at times it can be left feeling a little slow, especially on Voga (I can't quite remember if the name Voga is explicitly mentioned, though). It helps that the Cybermen are introduced much earlier than the original, because it gives us a lot more time to establish them as a threat - Again, the eerie cliffhanger of Part One felt very similar to The Moonbase, and that creepy vibe runs throughout, and they're a much more credible force of power this time around, and it's nice that the Cybermats get a look in too.

Like I said, I prefer the scenes on the Beacon a lot more to the scenes on the asteroid - I feel like there's a lot more action and tension when Cybermats and Cybermen are looming around every corner, creating a very claustrophobic, scary feel, whereas the Doctor's just arguing with Kellman in some caves, and it's not as interesting. The settings still continue to impress, with the sound design for each location feeling very unique, but still harkening back to Revenge of the Cybermen and giving us some nostalgia.

The side characters are fairly basic - The crew of Nerva Beacon didn't feel all too memorable, but I feel like their performances are still pretty strong, and they interact with our TARDIS team well to humanise everyone a lot more, such as Sarah giggling with the only other woman about Harry. Kellman, once again, was suspicious from the start - He cannot catch a break! The inhabitants of the asteroid are a massive improvement to the Vogans - They feel a lot more developed, and aren't restricted by ugly and cheap-looking masks, which allows the actors to really tackle the material they get.

I love that the soundtrack is sort of a cross between the original story and Briggs' original soundtrack for the Cybermen, Sword of Orion. It's very engaging and establishes the sort of weird, unsettling atmosphere very well.

The dialogue for the story is pretty good - It fleshes out its characters with proper, real dialogue, and times its moments of humour with the darker, scarier feel of the episode very well.
Favourite Line: "If he survives me, you're Nerva's last hope, Harry."

Oh, look at me, I said I didn't want to do a proper review, and here we are! It's not as long as some of my reviews, but aside from that - This is a very good story. It is a fresh take on the 1975 serial, and while it does improve upon it in certain aspects, radically shaking up the tone of it to fit the style of the Cybermen more, there are definitely areas of improvement within the plot to either make it feel more distinctive or just to keep the listeners more engaged overall.

Honestly, a lot better than Revenge of the Cybermen. The first two parts in particular are a very stark increase in quality. The great soundtrack also helps a lot.

A.

You can polish a turd but it’s still a turd but glossy