8th Doctor: DARK EYES 4 (2015)

WARNING: Here there be spoilers...

After the events of To the Death, the first Dark Eyes kicked off an exciting new era for the 8th Doctor, with Paul McGann's audio incarnation staring into the abyss having sworn "direct action" against the Daleks and time's assorted rogues gallery. Whilst that wasn't quite what was delivered (after all, it was unlikely that Big Finish were going to be able to thrust us straight into the Time War, and of course by the time of Dark Eyes 2, John Hurt's "War Doctor" had rather stolen that thunder) what we did get was fresh, intriguing, fell-blooded and pacy.

At that time, there was no real indication that Dark Eyes wasn't a completely self-contained set and that what followed wouldn't be a completely new tale. But the story of Molly O'Sullivan's dark eyes and the Dalek Time Controller had more to give, and the machinations of Alex MacQueen's delightful new Master and (unfortunately for this listener) the Eminence would have their parts to play across a series of sequels. 

This set's immediate predecessor, Dark Eyes 3, was so lacklustre a disappointment, it was with some trepidation that I approached this final set in the sequence, but thankfully, Dark Eyes 4 comes roaring back to form just in time to close the series... 

1: A Life in the Day  

by John Dorney

with Barnaby Kay (Martin Donaldson) Beth Chalmers (Kitty Donaldson), Charlie Norfolk (The Woman), Derek Hutchinson (Usher), Camilla Power (Receptionist), John Dorney (Android)

The Doctor and Liv return to post-World War One London, where the Doctor meets Kitty Donaldson (Beth Chalmers), and Liv strikes a friendship with her brother Martin (Barnaby Kay). But what mysterious force is hunting them? 

What a breath of fresh air after Dark Eyes 3! John Dorney kicks off the set with a story set in London, in the aftermath of the 1st World War and the events of the first Dark Eyes set. Here, the Doctor looks in on Molly O'Sullivan's friend Kitty Donaldson, hoping to find his once dark-eyed companion. Finally a proper companion in her own right, Nicola Walker's Liv Chenka comes out of her shell for an affecting and very real romance with Kitty's wounded brother Martin (played by Walker's husband Barnaby Kay). Martin is the only one - including, at first, the listener, who realizes that this is a very haunting and sophisticated take on the old Groundhog Day plot.

It's a plot that takes in mysterious android assassins whose real purpose turns out to be to steal the Doctor's TARDIS,somewhat akin to the start of The Evil of the Daleks, a theft that leads the Doctor and Liv to leave London in pursuit, as a lead in to the next chapter. 

There's a somewhat nagging feeling that McGann in fact gels that little bit better with the always wonderful Beth Chalmers, perhaps because her Kitty does seem cut from vaguely similar cloth to Raine Creevey, but for anyone that's felt maybe Nicola Walker's Liv Chenka was that bit too guarded to be completely likeable, this disc should be a very pleasant surprise. Upbeat, romantic and breathlessly adventurous, this is a really invigorated and touching story that has that "listen to it again straight away" factor in spades. A cracking opener!

9/10

2: The Monster of Montmartre

by Matt Fitton

with Rachael Stirling (Adelaine Dutemps), Derek Hutchinson (Usher), Alex Wyndham (Thug), Blake Ritson (Barman), Camilla Power (Mademoiselle)

The Doctor and Liv’s investigations bring them to Paris, where a monster stalks the streets.

The action moves to Paris, settling amongst the artistic fraternity, who are being stalked by a mysterious monster in the environs of Madame duTemps' "Red Pagoda".

The Doctor and Liv investigate separate threads but are soon reunited when they come at opposite ends of a mystery that sees the badly damaged Dalek Time Controller conducting horrific experiments on abducted artists. Although it's the Time controller itself that's the eponymous monster, there are more than a few echoes of Hugo's Huncback in some of its' Revelation of the Daleks-like mutated victims, and the fate of Rachel Stirling's Madame du Temps is perhaps the echo of an apocryphal rumour that concerned Harriet Jones.

Not quite as good as the chapter that preceded it, but nonetheless a strong and distinctive episode, with great characters and atmosphere and a really strong sense of place and horror that anchors it and ensures that it stays in the memory more than any of the same writer's Dark Eyes 3 efforts.

8.5/10 

3: Master of the Daleks

by John Dorney

with Dan Starkey (The Sontarans) and Sorcha Cusack (Mary)

The Master and the Dalek Time Controller have forged an alliance. History hangs in the balance, and this time the Doctor can’t help…

Ostensibly the "Doctor Lite" entry that the last couple of Dark Eyes sets seemed to rather inexplicably require (if it's down the McGann's availability why not just make the set 3 stories?), this tale allows the Red Pagoda's true architect, the Master, room to flex his muscles and ramp up the camp as a rapid-firing zinger machine. It's a script peppered with laugh out loud one-liners that MacQueen knocks out of the park.

The Sontarans, considering they apparently merit a starring place on the boxsets' artwork, are barely involved as much else than a plot device, albeit a very well justified one, and whilst Dan Starkey is super as usual (and adapts is tone to be even more in the vein of Kevin Lyndsay than usual), their appearance is short, barely nasty and hardly brutish.

The Doctor's part in proceedings travels a well worn furrow for the 8th Doctor, but to great comic effect, giving rise to some very amusing dialogue with the Daleks.

There may not really be much real reason to move the action to a twisted time-twisted Russia, but at least we've got another distinct setting, and a different-feeling backdrop to some important twists and developments. Of particular importance is the elderly nurse Mary Carter, who Liv meets and befriends.

Possibly the weakest entry of this box set, but only really because the other entries are so strong; as a single release this would still be amongst the strongest in the range.

8/10 

4: Eye of Darkness

by Matt Fitton

with David Sibley (Professor Markus Schriver) Sorcha Cusack (Mary), Susannah Harker (Anya)

It’s the endgame. Truths will be revealed, and a hero will make the ultimate sacrifice.

A strong finish to a strong set, this. One that reunites the Doctor and his TARDIS, and also with Liv, and an old friend with an unfamiliar face. Eye of Darkness has the unenviable task of tying up all the loose ends and plot threads to culminate in an end game.

Kudos then to Matt Fitton for pulling off something so coherent, satisfying, and affecting. It's far from perfect, but here's a story that has its own distinct tone and feel and that does justice not only to all the movers and shakers of the grand schemes that have underpinned the series (with the possible exception of the Time Lords, actually), but also to the development of the companions, and of the Doctor himself.

The setting vaguely recalls that of the first set's "Tangled Web" but without the more obvious plot elements. We can cross our fingers that that's the last we'll see of the Eminence, and it's a pleasing denouement that sees the 8th Doctor far more at peace with himself than the one that began the Dark Eyes series. He's come to accept that some sacrifices are necessary and that they have to be valued and honoured, rather than simply raged at. How this will see him develop next is an intriguing prospect. A meatier ending than we might have expected, one that rewards listeners who've stuck with the series, and one that more than holds its own as a separate episode.

8.5/10

Dark Eyes 4

As mentioned, then, it's a massive relief to declare Dark Eyes 4 a  barn-storming, rip-roaring return to form just in time to deliver a satisfying rounding off to a brave new era for the 8th Doctor. 

9/10

I'm certainly looking forward to the next stage of the 8th Doctor's journey, but (a) I'd prefer much more loosely (if at all) connected stories and (b) It'd be nice for the 8th Doctor, now tempered with the steel of his Dark Eyes experiences, to swash buckles once more, and perhaps after "Doom Coalition" to start doing so in his Night of the Doctor outfit!

TTFN! K.

Coming Soon... The Ambassadors of Death