Saturday, February 22, 2014

Big Finish - Dark Eyes 2

The sequel to the award winning first Dark Eyes box set. Dark Eyes 2 by Nicholas Briggs, Alan Barnes and Matt Fitton, directed by Nicholas Briggs.


The Eighth Doctor returns as does Molly O'Sullivan, the Daleks and the Master. Four linked stories range across time and space and bring the Doctor and Molly to a final confrontation in 1970s London. Splitting up the story does mean that this is not quite the cohesive whole that the first set was and I did have to concentrate more to keep up with what was going on. Interestingly one of the characters meets the Doctor twice but the wrong way round in his time line and her confusion does help the listener understand what is going on.

There are rather too many bad guys for my liking with Daleks, Viyrans, the Eminence and the Master all involved. I know that Daleks and Dark Eyes seem to go hand in hand but personally I would be happy to see them take a rest on the subs bench next time. 

I had a few doubts about Molly O'Sullivan in the first set but she is great here. I do like a companion who doesn't let the Doctor get away with too much nonsense and gives as good as she gets. There has been some discussion recently on the Big Finish site about whether working class companions work with Doctor Who. Molly is Irish working class and she succeeds splendidly as a sparring partner for Paul McGann's Doctor. Ruth Bradley has a lovely voice and thankfully they have dropped the colloquialisms I complained about last time.

This box set also benefits from performances by Nicola Walker and the fantastic Alexander Macqueen who tackles the part of the Master with enthusiasm. The rest of the production is up to the usual high Big Finish standard, which almost goes without saying these days.

Splendid stuff, another 4.5 out of 5 leather jackets. I look forward to future instalments although hopefully they will give the Daleks a rest next time and explore some new bad guys.

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