This is the collection of stories (box set) titled Dark Eyes, coming directly after the incidents in the Eighth Doctor New Adventures. The stories are collected under the following titles:
The Great War
Fugitives
Tangled Web
X and the Daleks
<<Spoilers galore here! Just trust me, this is fabulous so be forewarned, there are some spoilers here but hopefully not too spoiler-ee!>>
The Great War
The Doctor starts this audio directly from Lucy Miller’s death, looking for Hope. Straxis, the Time Lord, comes to him to offer him that hope, too. This was the only problem I had with the entire audio adventure – he’s gone from Lucy’s death and off to the end of the universe to get some perspective, looking for hope? Hmmm. Well, it would be a Time Lord perspective on things instead of a human one, when he loses all hope in life and living. Where do we find hope in our lives?
So the Doctor heads to the First World War, wandering amongst the troops while the bombs are going off. The fog rolls in, the Daleks attack, and the story has the Doctor off and running the Molly, a girl helping out during WWI. Everything moves quickly from there, ending on a cliffhanger of “what’s going on here?” It’s a great way to start off this epic adventure, with a girl to save, lots of running, and questions abound.
Fugitives
The Doctor and Molly are on the move, with the Daleks and Cotris giving chase by showing up there. Everywhere! More layers of the onion come off and we find out some more details of the Dalek plans, though it’s not very clear what’s going on. More running, more chasing, and Molly actually begins to take charge some and choose their location. The best part of this story is when they’re off having fun and danger looms!
Tangled Web
We hear a little of Molly’s history and things progress with her from when she was two years old. One of the Dalek goals is achieved (a relativity map, which sounds a lot more innocuous than it ultimately is) and the Doctor is trapped in a fake reality with Molly. But of course the Daleks aren’t far behind. With all of this chasing going on, you would think things weren’t going to plan for the Daleks and their Time Controller but we’re never quite sure…
X and the Daleks
And finally the mask is revealed! Who is Cotris? Why is he out to destroy the Time Lords with the Daleks? Why did the Daleks work with him? What does Molly have to do with any of it? Well, at least some of it is explained, anyway. The finale is explosive and crazy and yet peaceful. A good, rewarding ending for this companion story and the Eighth Doctor. And check out that cover! Wow. Way to make Paul McGann look even more imposing and Time Lord-ee – like he needed it! Though I still don’t get the “long hair” claims as he seems to have short hair to me, though not shaved, admittedly…
*Extras*
Listening to the extras, I’ll admit that wouldn’t be able to do this stuff. The raw audio tracks are played a bit and I would feel very silly yelling and calling out “Run!” when I’m not running or hopping on a horse when I’m not actually doing that. It’s all about the acting, right? And this is cracking stuff! Dark Eyes is worth the wait.
Paul McGann (8th Doctor), Ruth Bradley (Molly O’Sullivan), Peter Egan (Straxis), Toby Jones (Cotris), Nicholas Briggs (the Daleks)
Writer/Director: Nicholas Briggs
Release: November 2012