Dark Eyes 2 preview

Next month sees the return of Paul McGann to audio, and after the Night Of The Doctor and the win of Dark Eyes, Dark Eyes 2 has a lot to live up to! Tying together characters from Dark Eyes and other stories, it certainly promises to be a well anticipated release!

 The stories

Part One: The Traitor

by Nicholas Briggs

Nixyce VII is under Dalek occupation. For many, their only hope of survival is decent medical care, as slave working conditions under the Dalek regime are appalling. But when you help people to survive under the rule of the Daleks, are you actually helping the Daleks? Med-tech Liv Chenka doesn't have the luxury of pondering these dilemmas. She must just do what she feels is right.

But then there are the soldiers of last resort... The freedom fighters left behind to cause maximum damage to the Dalek war effort, at whatever cost. To them, anyone who seems to be helping the Daleks is a traitor.

And when the Doctor arrives, his secret agenda throws him into conflict with everyone.

Part Two: The White Room

by Alan Barnes

Molly O'Sullivan is still trying to help people, but now she is back in London, staying in Baker Street.

But there are dangerous forces abroad. Where are the young deserters disappearing to? Who are the Huntsmen? And what is really going on at the Blackwell Convalescent Home?

Perhaps the mysterious 'Surgeon General' has the answers. To find out, the Doctor must tackle an old and baffling enemy.

[Note: see speculations below regarding this story)

Part Three: Time’s Horizon

by Matt Fitton

The Doctor and Molly find themselves at the very edge of creation. But something dangerous seems to be heading back into the known universe from the very end of time.

The crew of the cryo-ship Orpheus, including its medical officer Liv Chenka, have their mission parameters to adhere to; but the arrival of the Doctor and Molly changes everything. An ancient and terrible force is on a collision course with them all and the outcome seems to be a matter of divine destiny.

Part Four: Eyes Of The Master

by Matt Fitton

The Doctor, Liv and Molly arrive back on Earth in the 1970s to investigate the Ides Institute. The timelines have shifted since the Doctor and Molly first travelled here and all is not as it was. Dr Sally Armstrong is still working for the Ides, but her associate has a devastating plan in mind.

Soon, Molly's 'dark eyes' prove to be at the centre of a plot to seize control of all life in the universe.

Here's what you get if you push for the CD

The characters

Molly O’Sullivan (Ruth Bradley)

Dark Eyes, A VAD (volunteer nurse) for her mistress Kitty Donaldson in France World War I, Molly soon got caught up with the Eighth Doctor following his loss of a companion close to him. Together, they discovered she was part of a large and convoluted plot involving the Daleks, a mysterious man called Kotris and Molly’s unnaturally dark eyes, and were able to stop the plan the Dalek Time Controller was plotting, undoing the events this plot had sparked but retaining the memories their experiences of it. After this, Molly returned to the service of Kitty.

Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker)

Robophobia (July 2011), MedTech on the Lorelei, a cargo ship carrying robots, helped to avert the destruction of the planet Ventalis by a robophobic trying to get rid of robots. There are likely to be small references to the events of Robophobia, but not any plot points from that story carrying into Dark Eyes 2

The Master (Alexander MacQueen)

UNIT Dominion (October 2012), passed himself off as a future version of the Doctor to the Seventh Doctor and UNIT as part of a scheme to rule over all dimensions. Since Dominion didn’t reveal anything about his past except that he used Chancellor Goth’s TARDIS, it is likely that UNIT Dominion is not required listening.

The Eminence (David Sibley)

The Seeds Of War (March 2013), a gaseous entity capable of influencing people to do his bidding. His soldiers are the Infinite Warriors, people infused with the Breath Of Forever. First met the Fourth Doctor on Delaphon (Destroy The Infinite, to be released June 2014) where it part of it got into his mind. It resurfaced in his mind when the Doctor was in his Sixth body, on Calcos, after a war between the Infinite Warriors and humans resulted in the destruction of the great Tower of Calcos. The Doctor was able to prevent the Eminance’s plans from coming to pass, though it is unknown if it was purged from the Doctor’s mind permanently.

Given the big names and characters in this release, it is unlikely that we will hear the return of the Dalek Time Controller (Patient Zero, Lucie Miller, To The Death, Dark Eyes, The Dalek Generation). Last we saw of it, the Time Controller was one of three beings aware of the events of Darks Eyes, along with the Eighth Doctor and Molly

Speculation: The Viyrans

In the pack shot image of the cover for the second story, The White Room, there can be seen a figure in white that look quite a bit like a Viyran. The Viyrans are a race who have an affinity with viruses and other biological weapons. These virus appeared in various stories leading up to the one part Mission Of The Viyrans (released with The Mind’s Eye, November 2007). 

They appeared more fully in the Sixth Doctor stories Patient Zero and Blue Forgotten Planet. 

The Viyrans were talented at performing mind wipes, as part of the mission in searching for the viruses involved people not knowing about them (and exploiting them). This could be a heavy mind wipe, erasing a huge chunk of time from the subject’s memory, or a more subtle and precise alteration, such as substituting one person for another and implanting false memories. 

The latter method was used on the Sixth Doctor, who had his memories of Charley altered to be of Mila, a prisoner of the Daleks who was experimented on before she stowed away on the TARDIS, invisible, inaudible and intangible in general, to preserve his first impressions of Charley in his (later) Eighth incarnation. However strong minds could overcome the conditioning and the will of the subject wanting to forget was sometimes crucial for a successful memory alteration. 

If anyone was shown to have overcome the conditioning and recalling what they should not have known, then they were re-processed or killed, depending on the severity of the original knowledge and what process was used in the first place.

The Doctor encountered the Viyrans three times. The first was in his Fifth incarnation with Peri on Grallista Social, although he never learned of the Viyrans then and was only treated for a mutagenic virus. The second and third times were during his travels with Charley Pollard in his Sixth incarnation, first on Amethyst Viral Containment Station, and then on Earth, in a timeline where a failed vaccine caused more problems than the original virus would have. After the latter, his mind was wiped of the incident, also removing his memory of the Viyrans at the same time. It is also possible, that when Charley leaves the service of the Viyrans, she too will lose her memory of them.

Background listening:

• Dark Eyes (November 2012) – Well, it’s the first installment in the Dark Eyes era, and so far the only material with Molly. Buy it now, or re-listen if you have it already

• Robophobia (July 2011) – First appearance of Liv Chenka, and an amazing story in its own right (it at least matches Robots Of Death, the story it acts as a sequel to). Make sure you listen to the music suite on the second disc. Features the Seventh Doctor. Probably not essential to understanding Dark Eyes 2, but a fantastic story nonetheless

• The Seeds Of War (Mach 2013) – First released appearance of The Eminence, although the second encounter with the Doctor. The first encounter is in the Fourth Doctor Adventure Destroy The Infinite (June 2014, with Leela). A good introduction to The Eminence

• UNIT: Dominion (October 2012) – If you came to UNIT Dominion through here, chances are the identity of the Other Doctor Alex MacQueen is described as voicing there is already spoiled for you (then again, it was the subject of a podcast COMPETITION (play the music) question, where Nick Briggs said it had been at least six months since its release). Four hours with his silky smooth voice should be all the incentive you need. If you want more of Alex, listen to the Lost Story Paradise 5, where he plays Gabriel. If you love Tracey Childs as Klein, then get UNIT Dominion immediately.

Win one of three script fronts for Dark Eyes 2, with the Big Finish Podcast with Nick Briggs and Paul Spragg! Go on to listen to Joseph Lidster’s favorite music, and get the COMPETITON (I can hear the music in my head now) question. Open until the end of February!

Hopefully Big Finish staff have learned from the experiences of Dark Eyes (not enough broadband) and Light At The End (too many visitors to the site!), and won’t have any issues with listeners getting their downloads. The forums are on a different server, so when the day does come and the Big Finish site does become unopenable, then go to the forums and social media for updates.

Tell me what you are most looking forward to the most about Dark Eyes 2, either below in the comments section or tweet me at @jbmastawa.