At last! Dark Eyes (Eighth Doctor Audio)
I've been looking forward to this release for ages - ever since To the Death back in March 2011, in which we left the Eighth Doctor at pretty much an all-time low, having lost both his grandson and his companion, the wonderful Lucie Miller to the Daleks.
Lucie was such a fabulous companion it was hard to imagine anyone coming after her, and I certainly wanted to know how the Doctor would fare without her, and especially, deal with her death.
On the whole, I thought Dark Eyes did a good job; there was enough said about the fact that the Doctor had lost someone close to him without it being overdone. After all, this is Doctor Who and companions have always come and gone (as have Doctors), some with a more "marked" passing than others. But as the revived TV show has made more of companions' departures, I think it's good that the Big Finish stories are doing the same.
I thought Molly O'Sullivan was superb and was sorry when she walked away at the end because I'd have liked to have heard her having more adventures with the Doctor. Still, I suppose he could always go and find her again after the war... It was great to have a companion from WW1 and making her a no-nonsense VAD meant that she was able to "not understand" enough for necessary exposition to take place while she was also more than capable of giving the Doctor a good talking-to when he needed one.
I can't say much about the plot other than, as usual with DW, some of it makes sense and some of it doesn't! There are Daleks and Time Lords and nefarious schemes, but basically, it's about Molly and the Doctor and their burgeoning friendship - a small story on a grand scale.
Great stuff.
Lucie was such a fabulous companion it was hard to imagine anyone coming after her, and I certainly wanted to know how the Doctor would fare without her, and especially, deal with her death.
On the whole, I thought Dark Eyes did a good job; there was enough said about the fact that the Doctor had lost someone close to him without it being overdone. After all, this is Doctor Who and companions have always come and gone (as have Doctors), some with a more "marked" passing than others. But as the revived TV show has made more of companions' departures, I think it's good that the Big Finish stories are doing the same.
I thought Molly O'Sullivan was superb and was sorry when she walked away at the end because I'd have liked to have heard her having more adventures with the Doctor. Still, I suppose he could always go and find her again after the war... It was great to have a companion from WW1 and making her a no-nonsense VAD meant that she was able to "not understand" enough for necessary exposition to take place while she was also more than capable of giving the Doctor a good talking-to when he needed one.
I can't say much about the plot other than, as usual with DW, some of it makes sense and some of it doesn't! There are Daleks and Time Lords and nefarious schemes, but basically, it's about Molly and the Doctor and their burgeoning friendship - a small story on a grand scale.
Great stuff.