Released in November 2012, Dark Eyes was the first box set in Big Finish's Eighth Doctor Adventures range and the second box set in the Special Releases range. It stars Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Ruth Bradley as Molly O'Sullivan. There are four episodes, the first one is set directly after
To The Death - the final single release in the EDA range.
Big Finish's synopsis of Dark Eyes and the four episodes:
" ‘I really hoped it would be a wonderful view... to look back from
the end of everything... to see how things finally turned out.’
The Doctor is looking for hope. But instead, he finds himself on a
mission. The Time Lords have uncovered terrifying fragments of an insane
plot to destroy the universe. And somehow, at the centre of that plot
is one, random female in Earth’s history, Molly O’Sullivan.
Soon, the Doctor and Molly find themselves thrown headlong into a
series of dangerous and terrifying adventures, with the dreaded Daleks
never far behind them. "
"Voluntary Aid Detachment nursing assistant Molly O’Sullivan spends her
days facing the horrors of the Great War. Little does she know that a
man from another world has arrived, looking for her.
But what are the strange sounds coming from the battlefield at night?
Where is the glowing gas coming from? And is everyone who they claim to
be?"
"With the first objective of his mission reached, almost nothing is
going to plan for the Doctor. He finds he cannot contact or return to
the Time Lord’s home planet, Gallifrey. And just when Molly O’Sullivan
thinks she’s escaped one conflict, she finds herself in the thick of
another one.
What is it that connects the Doctor, the Daleks and the mysterious Ides Scientific Institute?"
"Something happened when Molly O’Sullivan was just two years old, and
the Doctor thinks it’s high time they found out exactly what it was.
Meanwhile, the Daleks are fully activating their Temporal Chamber. And
while the Doctor and Molly get closer and closer to the terrible truth,
the nature of reality itself seems to be in question."
"‘Subject is called Molly O’Sullivan. An inhabitant of Earth. Born Earth
year 1891. Has travelled in space and time with Time Lord known as the
Doctor.’
With Straxus and his TARDIS destroyed, the Doctor and Molly have
tracked the mysterious ‘X’ to the planet Srangor. It is here that the
truth of the threat to the universe will finally be revealed.
What is the Dalek Time Controller’s ultimate plan? What exactly is the
space-time projector? Who will survive this epic battle for survival?"
Right, well that was uh, pretty damn long!
Now onto the review!
Dark Eyes is an amazing story in my opinion. Some parts are better than others, but it manages to be a good, strong, enjoyable four-hour story that never seems slow. I think the Eighth Doctor's new hair and clothes look great, although I can't bring myself to like them as much as the old ones. Oh well, things change!
I've seen quite a lot of hate for new companion Molly O'Sullivan and I can't quite understand it - I thought she was great! I love Irish accents, she's got quite an interesting background, being from World War I, I think the writing a letter to her mother throughout the story was nice and for a lot of the story, she doesn't really like The Doctor which is another thing I like. I like how she calls the TARDIS a "tardy box" and calls The Doctor "The Doctor" as opposed to just "Doctor" but then again, The Doctor calls her "Dark Eyes" as opposed to "Molly" seeing as her eyes are darker than any other human's. And of course, she just punches anyone who annoys her on the nose... How awesome is that!? She sort of makes me think of a WW1 Donna Noble - my favourite 2005+ series companion. I really like her and want to hear more of her.
So, now I'll talk about the acting - Paul McGann is brilliant as always, Ruth Bradley is surprisingly fantastic, Nicholas Briggs provides awesome Dalek voices as always, Toby Jones (the man who played the Dream Lord in
Amy's Choice) gives another brilliant performance - this time as now-ex Time Lord X (aka Kotris), Peter Egan is great as Straxus (who is actually a very interesting character), Laura Molyneaux gives a damn good performance as short-lived Isabel Stanford and Ian Cullen was very good as Nadeyan.
The Daleks are good as always, in fact quite a lot better than usual. In
Tangled Web, The Doctor fantasizes Skaro in a time where the Daleks realise they're wrong after a war that destoyed The Doctor's people (Time War reference? I think so). Actually, they start caring about humans, playing with children and saying "please" and "thank you". The Doctor knows something is up but has a difficult time figuring out what.
Being four hours long, you'd expect it to be set in quite a few places and it is - Ireland, England, France, Srangor, Dunkirk, London, Halalka at various times. They're all done fantastically and if you try hard enough, you can really feel like you're there with the characters. Some of the best of Big Finish.
My favourite character featured in
Dark Eyes other than The Doctor and Molly has to be Kotris - excellent performance from Toby Jones and the character's background story is very interesting but I'm going to try not to spoil that for you.
My favourite line... Hmm, that's a really tough one... There are so many good ones...
"It's a war alright but there's nothing great about it. The worst war more like" from Molly and "That is the difference between me and the Daleks because there is no underneath it all for them. They weren't made with an underneath it all. They were made by a mad man to be what they are... They're like a stick of rock with 'exterminate' written all the way through" from The Doctor were both good, as was Kotris' "I looked at the history objectively, truly objectively and realised the Time Lords are far worse than the Daleks" even if he was wrong. I can't decide on a favourite between the three!
To The Death may have been slightly better, but this is still a brilliant box set and it's certainly among the best of the Eighth Doctor's audio adventures. Fantastic story, but don't get your hopes up
too much for it. It's a very enjoyable four hours and provided you know the events of season 4 of the
Eighth Doctor Adventures and who Lucie Miller and Susan are, it would make a very nice purchase. I think it's a brilliant story, but you might not. Just try it out for yourself!
Okay, I'm going to rate the individual episodes before I rate the story as a whole:
The Great War - 9/10
Fugitives - 8/10
Tangled Web - 9/10
X and the Daleks - 7/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
You can buy Dark Eyes for £35.00 download or £40.00 CD here.
If you're reading this before Friday 6th September, you can get it for just £20.00 following these instructions.
"People of Red Rocket Rising, my fellow citizens. Our long night is over. I've been contacted by a benevolent people. They too have known great trials, but they have overcome them and made it their mission to help others do the same. They have offered us refuge, and passage to the nearest human worlds. They have the resources, and the patience and compassion, to evacuate every one of us. My fellow citizens, my friends, rescue is at hand!"
