Dark Eyes was a full cast audio anthology released on 10 November 2012 by Big Finish Productions. It was the first release of the Dark Eyes audio series. It featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and introduced Ruth Bradley as Molly O'Sullivan.
This anthology was the first to advance the Eighth Doctor's story forwards following 2011's To the Death. A younger version of this incarnation appeared in three stories with Mary Shelley in late 2011, nearly a full year before this release.
The cover for this anthology box set featured a new look for the Eighth Doctor whose appearance on the covers of audios and in their in-story description had not majorly diverted from his appearance in the 1996 television movie. The cover features the first new photos of promotional art taken of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor since 1996, giving Big Finish's cover artists new source material for future releases.
Publisher's summary[]
"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.
Cast[]
- The Doctor - Paul McGann
- Molly O'Sullivan - Ruth Bradley
- Straxus - Peter Egan
- Kotris - Toby Jones
- Sally Armstrong - Natalie Burt
- The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
Stories[]
| # | Title | Author | Director | Doctor | Featuring | Released | Pr. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | The Great War | Nicholas Briggs | 8th | Molly, Straxus, Kitty Donaldson, Daleks, Kotris | 10 November 2012 | BFPDWCDMG035 | |
| 1.2 | Fugitives | Molly, Straxus, Daleks, Dalek Time Controller, Kotris, Sally Armstrong | |||||
| 1.3 | Tangled Web | Molly, Straxus, Daleks, Dalek Time Controller, Kotris | |||||
| 1.4 | X and the Daleks | ||||||
Notes[]
The cover to DWM 454, which promoted this story.
- These audio dramas were recorded on 1 and 18-20 June 2012 at the Moat Studios.
- The Eighth Doctor's new look first debuted unofficially at the Armageddon Pop Culture Expo in October 2010[1]; the new sonic screwdriver was designed by Weta, who had previously designed props for the new series. Nicholas Briggs confirmed that the new costume for the Eighth Doctor was officially approved by the BBC in DWM 454. Much of the input in designing the costume came from McGann himself. Although McGann is seen to wear it on the cover to Fugitives, McGann stated in DWM 454 that the t-shirt and jeans were not intended to be a part of the costume and that, at the time, it was being developed further.
- As early as BFX: The Vengeance of Morbius, recorded in 2007, Paul McGann expressed a wish to move past the Eighth Doctor's pompous look with the cravat, towards a new look he had in mind with a leather jacket, similar to the Ninth Doctor's look in series 1.
- When McGann reprised his role on television in 2013, the production team opted not to use his Big Finish look and instead gave the Eighth Doctor a costume reminiscent of his original TV movie one, showing that the Doctor once again revises his style around the onset of the Time War. (TV: The Night of the Doctor)
- Hereafter, Big Finish would continue using images of the Eighth Doctor in his navy peacoat for the ongoing Eighth Doctor Adventures range (AUDIO: The Eleven) while using images of both his original and Time War looks for audios set during those periods of the Doctor's life. (AUDIO: The Rulers of the Universe, AUDIO: The Dalek Trap)
- Molly O'Sullivan, the companion who is introduced in this anthology, was later name-checked, along with Charlotte Pollard, C'rizz, Tamsin Drew and Lucie Miller, in the 2013 mini-episode The Night of the Doctor.
- The cover of DWM 454 promoted Dark Eyes with the cover line of "Dark Doctor", a rarity for an audio drama.
- This is the only Dark Eyes box set to feature the Daleks in every story.
- Dark Eyes has won multiple awards, such as winning a Paul McGann Big Finish Audio poll on an official BBC Website, and the first part, The Great War, won a BBC Audio Award in the category of Best Online or Non-Broadcast Audio Drama in January 2014.[2]
Cover gallery[]
External links[]
- Official Dark Eyes page at bigfinish.com
- Official Dark Eyes page at serialbox.com
- DisContinuity for Dark Eyes at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide
