A 4 CD Boxset that follows on from To The Death.
‘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.
01 – The Great War
02 – Fugitives
03 – Tangled Web
04 – ‘X’ and the Daleks
DARK EYES
For four “seasons,” Big Finish gave the eighth Doctor a series all his own, a sequence of adventures with companion Lucie Miller that allowed the character to develop independent of the monthly range. But all that came to an end with “To the Death,” an explosive (and overrated) finale that wiped out the majority of the recurring cast. And after some time away from the series, writer-director Nicholas Briggs brings us back with “Dark Eyes,” a massive four-hour epic story that purports to show us the Doctor’s life and how he has changed in the immediate aftermath of the loss of his companion and family. Unfortunately, while “Dark Eyes” wants to be about themes of loss and hope, of sacrifice and redemption, it’s largely a substance-free runaround involving lots of Daleks and Time Lords.
At the end of “To the Death,” Lucie, brief companion Tamsin, and the Doctor’s great-grandson Alex were all killed in various ways. I complained then that while Lucie was given a fantastic final scene, Tamsin and Alex were almost completely ignored, something especially egregious when it came to Susan’s son. And this continues: as “Dark Eyes” opens, the Doctor is lost in rage and grief over all these recent deaths, even taking a pickaxe to the TARDIS console for some reason. But while he mourns Lucie, and references Susan’s grief once or twice, the names “Tamsin” and “Alex” are never once mentioned. Since we know that Briggs isn’t an idiot, there’s obviously a conscious reason for these omissions – I’m guessing it’s so that new and/or infrequent listeners aren’t confused by who Tamsin and Alex are. Or maybe it’s meant to demonstrate that the Doctor genuinely doesn’t care that his great-grandson is dead?
It’s a shame, because Briggs wants to have something interesting to say about the Doctor’s grief process. He’s not out for revenge in this story; rather, he’s looking for hope in an increasingly cruel universe. There are several poignant scenes in which the Doctor discusses his need to find hope, but despite the three-hour running time, Briggs doesn’t lace this theme throughout the story. Where, exactly, is the hope here? More people are needlessly killed, and the plot is revealed to be the result of petty, personal anger. There’s nothing here to indicate the Doctor is inspired to return to his old ways, and yet at the conclusion the Doctor is left in the TARDIS, ready to continue his journeys. We never see the Doctor deal with his grief; we only see it appear from time to time before finally vanishing without explanation. Granted, it’s more effective than, say, the end of “Earthshock,” but with the TV series avoiding this sort of sloppy characterization, we should be expecting more from flagship audio drama.
Which isn’t to say that there’s nothing redeeming about “Dark Eyes.” The first part, “The Great War,” is largely excellent. The Doctor, searching for hope, finds himself in the middle of World War I, one of the most hopeless periods of human history. The direction and design of this sequence is impeccable, accurately and believably recreating the era of trench warfare. The mysteries are compelling and small-scale: who destroyed the railroad tracks? What is the glowing gas? The Doctor meets his new companion in difficult but understandable circumstances, and their relationship builds organically from the story. With only a small amount of reworking, this could easily have been a great self-contained eighth Doctor story, and it’s by far the best part of “Dark Eyes.”
It’s the best part, of course, because it’s mostly free of the central plot. While I think there are great stories to be told about Gallifrey and the Time Lords, plots like “Dark Eyes” make me understand why both Russell T. Davies and Justin Richards thought the Doctor Who universe would be better off without them. The Time Lords want to destroy the Daleks, the Daleks want to destroy the Time Lords, and there are two Time Lords caught in the middle of it, each working for one side. All well and good, except for one serious problem: none of this really involves the Doctor. Both sides acknowledge that incorporating the Doctor into the plan is a recipe for disaster and there’s really very little need for either side to do so. Worst of all, most of the plot isn’t actually revealed until the fourth part, meaning that the majority of the middle two parts consist almost entirely of the Doctor and Molly running from place to place and being shot at by Daleks. As plots go, this is staggeringly uninteresting: when a huge revelation is “You’re bursting with retrogenitor particles!” you should probably rethink your script.
There’s a fantastic sequence in the third episode where the Doctor encounters Daleks that have rejected their hateful, warlike ways and aim to construct a peaceful society. It’s a bit silly, of course, but it gives Molly probably her best moments of the story, as she challenges the Doctor’s single-minded view of the Daleks, juxtaposing it against the Daleks themselves. The problem, though – and Big Finish has made this mistake before – is that the Daleks, by their nature, invalidate any moral dilemmas. The Doctor insists that it all must be a lie, that the Daleks are irredeemably evil, and in so doing comes across as a fanatic. Fine, but when the Doctor is ultimately proven right, it undercuts the entire debate.
Paul McGann is largely fantastic in this story. While his emotional distress is perhaps overwritten, his performance is never overwrought – he incorporates a great deal of convincing emotion, making me wish the play had been less of a runaround and more of a character study. The Doctor is constantly interrupted, so much so that virtually every quiet, thoughtful moment is stopped from playing out. Amazing that in a four-hour run time Briggs never gives his characters time to breathe. We’re also introduced to Molly O’Sullivan (Ruth Bradley), a WWI volunteer inextricably bound to the Doctor and the Daleks. She’s got all the requisite companion characteristics – she’s steadfast, moral, and more than willing to challenge the Doctor – but we don’t see her develop in any significant way, which is again a problem given the massive running time of the story. The character points she’s given at the start don’t significantly change. Unfortunately, one of these character points is the fact that she’s Irish, and Briggs decides that this means she should talk like a leprechaun. Ha ha, yes, she mistakenly calls the TARDIS a “tardy-box,” very funny – but not so funny after four hours. Even Jamie wasn’t this much of a regional caricature, and he was created nearly 50 years ago.
The production is excellent. Andy Hardwick outdoes himself with sound design, and Briggs always directs his own material with a veteran’s skill. Same goes for the performances, especially Peter Egan and Toby Jones – it’s just a shame that their characters are so uninspiring. The final revelation about their relationship is underwhelming at best, one of the less interesting ways the plot could be resolved. Really, that’s the problem with “Dark Eyes:” it’s exciting – exhilarating, even – but it’s just not very interesting. There’s a great deal of material that could be mined into great drama, but Briggs is content to engineer a massive runaround with only occasional glimpses at anything important. This sort of approach is acceptable for one episode in a long series, but a massive, self-consciously epic box set release requires something more.
Very, very average.
5/10