Doctor Who overview: Dark Eyes (Eighth Doctor audio series)

Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.

In Dark Eyes, we saw (or rather, heard) the Eighth Doctor battle the Dalek Time Controller, the Master and the Eminence. How well did the sixteen-episode epic unfold?

Looking at Dark Eyes as a whole is an interesting prospect. Mainly because, unlike the following Eighth Doctor series Doom Coalition, it wasn’t meant to be a multi-box set Doctor Who epic.

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In fact, the whole story was planned by Nicholas Briggs to be told in just one single volume. And even during the interviews for subsequent box sets, Briggs still maintained that view.

You can really see this when listening to the box sets. Particularly how much each series wraps up and how much it leaves threads open.

For example, the first episode of the series introduced a grand mystery, which unfolded very nicely over those first four episodes. By the fourth episode, however, everything had been wrapped up and all questions had been answered.

The second box set, on the other hand, brought in a lot of plot with each episode. But it also ensured that not every question was answered or resolved.

In fact, Eyes of the Master clearly made sure to ask as many questions as possible, complete with a major cliffhanger, to show that the story definitely wasn’t over. So you could see that it’s only from 2 onwards that they planned the story to unfold over multiple box sets this time.

This isn’t necessarily a criticism. In fact, it’s actually rather impressive how smoothly the transition is from stand-alone box set to sixteen episode epic.

Kotris and the Daleks have finally caught up with the Doctor and Molly. But what is their plan, and why is Molly such a vital part of it?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Changing timelines

For example, the second volume made sure to introduce the Master and the Eminence into the series. But it made sure to do this slowly, saving them for the box set’s second half.

The first episode of Dark Eyes 2 simply focused on telling a story with the Dalek Time Controller once again. Afterwards, the story gradually moves away from the Time Controller and even the Daleks, although the series continues to reference them, at least. So there’s a nice, smooth transition, before Dark Eyes 3 focused only on the Master and the Eminence.

Even better is how Dark Eyes took what was arguably one of the weakest points of the first box set – i.e. a total reset ending – and actually had plenty of fun with it.

Because the original events of the first box set never technically happened. But that doesn’t mean that history changing left no consequences.

It’s refreshing that, for once with a reset ending, we’re made to ask exactly how time has changed. How different is everything this time, and what are the consequences of it all?

In fact, changing history became a big part of Dark Eyes’s main story. Even the Doctor aims to change history entirely in the third box set. And what we see every time it happens is that there are always consequences.

Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.

Great companions

A big part of what kept everyone keen to listen to every episode of Dark Eyes were the consistent and incredibly strong performances.

Of course, the series kicked off immediately with Paul McGann giving us one of his greatest ever performances as the Eighth Doctor. A man who had been pushed to the edge, we heard the Doctor at his most vulnerable point. And Paul McGann was absolutely amazing to hear, particularly in those first four episodes.

Ruth Bradley was also great as Molloy. While the character had some traits that quickly grew to be annoying, (like calling the TARDIS a “tardy-box” the whole time, which got old very quickly,) Ruth Bradley always played the character with a sense of depth and reality.

Molly was someone who always did her best to be strong, and faced a lot of difficulties along the way. Travelling with the Doctor was almost too much for her at times. Not meeting aliens or seeing other planets, she was able to adjust to that.

But going from one world war to another one decades later was far more horrifying to her. So there was a sense of vulnerability underneath that hard exterior. And Bradley portrayed all of these key elements really well.

As the series went on, other great actors and characters were brought in. Many of which were returning characters, in fact.

For example, there’s Liv Chenka, Eight’s second companion in the series. She originally met him once in his Seventh self, and came across as an interesting character in Robophobia. So it was great for her to come back, especially as the series went on and more sides were revealed to her.

Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.

Return of the Master

But I think the most exciting character that was brought back was of course the Master, specifically the incarnation played by Alex Macqueen. The only story he had previously appeared in was in UNIT: Dominion, and in that story, he was mainly disguised as a future Doctor. So when Dark Eyes brought him back, it gave us a chance to get to know him much better.

I’ve written a great deal before about how brilliant Macqueen is as the Master. Dark Eyes was a perfect series to really flesh him out. Not just because we finally learned where he came from.

But mostly because we got plenty of interaction between the Master and the Doctor, especially in the episode Masterplan. It’s always wonderful when the relationship between these two such radically different Time Lords gets to be explored better.

The Eighth Doctor faces the Master in the middle of an epic galactic war in Dark Eyes 3.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Eight and the Master

It was especially great having so many audio stories of Eight against the Master, something that was long overdue. Not once did McGann’s Doctor encounter him with Charley (except in The Light at the End, with an earlier incarnation).

The same was also true for his adventures with Lucie. And considering how important the rival Time Lord has been to the Doctor’s life for a long time, that’s quite surprising. Especially as the Master was the first enemy the Eighth Doctor faced in the movie.

So it was great to have him featured so heavily in this series. Not only did we get to explore the two better. We also got to find out more about what the Master had been up to. Particularly why he’s in a brand new Time Lord body once again.

And this is where Dark Eyes gets really interesting.

The Master and the Daleks have entered into an alliance. And this time, the Doctor isn’t able to stop them from changing the whole of history…

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Building to the Time War

Despite not having the rights to the New Series when Dark Eyes started, the whole series still feels like one big precursor to one of the most exciting gaps in TV mythology: the Time War.

Fans got that sense from the moment the cover artwork for Dark Eyes was revealed. Showing the Eighth Doctor in a look that was very close to Nine’s seemed to be hinting at events to come.

And while Dark Eyes didn’t show the beginning of the war, it definitely showed one of the most open conflicts between the Time Lords and the Daleks to date. Not in a way that involved big, epic battles. But one that still involved each side wanting to wipe the other out.

The buildup only increased with the Master’s return. The Master’s explanation for his resurrection – specifically, that the Time Lords needed him for something big – is clearly meant to be exactly what John Simm’s Master explained to the Tenth Doctor in The Sound of Drums.

So having all of this foreshadowing, particularly with the Time Lords and the Daleks, helps to give Dark Eyes a New Series feel. But it’s also different to what The Eighth Doctor Adventures had with Lucie Miller. That series aimed for something similar to what the Russell T Davies era had.

Dark Eyes, on the other hand, feels like a darker prequel to the New Series. It feels like a natural buildup to the events that we know are coming for the Eighth Doctor.

It doesn’t end with the beginning of the Time War. In some ways, that’s still quite some way off. But it does put some of the key pieces in place, and increases tensions between the Time Lords and the Daleks even more.

Summary

Overall, Dark Eyes was a rather strong series. Surprisingly so, in fact. Sometimes, dragging a story out beyond what was originally intended can backfire in a big way. But with Dark Eyes, with both a great cast of characters and a really strong team, we instead got a great era for the Eighth Doctor.

It’s also an era that’s helped to shape his adventures considerably. The first Dark Eyes box set showed that the new format could work for the Eighth Doctor. Extending it to four box sets also showed that, perhaps, a sixteen-episode arc could work, too.

Currently, we have Ravenous and The Eighth Doctor: The Time War as two separate Eighth Doctor series. But before those and after Dark Eyes, we also had Doom Coalition. We’ll be covering on how successful that series was a whole very soon.

As for Dark Eyes, the series represents not just a great jumping-on point for fans new to the Eighth Doctor. It also helped to provide a fresh format to his audios, and provided an overall darker stone to his stories. An impressive audio series that, while not perfect, is still well worth recommending for Doctor Who fans.

Have you listened to Dark Eyes? What did you make of it as a whole? Did you enjoy it more than other Eighth Doctor eras? Let us know in the comments below.

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