The Great War

"Is the view from the end of everything so terrible?"

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: November 2012

Series: Dark Eyes 1.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Molly

Synopsis

Voluntary Aid Detachment nursing assisant Molly O'Sullivan spends her days facing the horrors of the Great War. Little does she know that a man from another world has arrived, looking for her. 

But what are the strange sounds coming from the battlefield at night? Where is the glowing gas coming from? And is everyone who they claim to be?

Verdict

The Great War was an excellent start to the Dark Eyes series of Eighth Doctor Adventures! This is a hugely exciting time for me personally as after twelve long years since release, I've finally delved into this range. I've actually owned all four boxsets for four years now but it's finally time to get rocking. I believe I'm up to date on everything required to know before starting the series and I was glad that this didn't have the feeling of being a hard reset on all things Eighth Doctor. He was still quite clearly reeling from the events of Lucie Miller/To the Death with everything that happened there for Lucie and even his own granddaughter. In his delirious state thanks to the gas in this episode he would mention them and that was rather touching. I like that we know there is something of a Time Lord mission at hand here but the details are still more than hazy and that's good to maintain interest as the series goes on. I don't need to know about it yet and building towards all of the information there will be great stuff. The moments we got with with Straxus were very good and I liked the insistence that whatever is at foot, the Doctor is the one required. We got a stark and quite scary reminder that the Time Lords can still control the Doctor's TARDIS and having him be that vulnerable in his own ship was startling. He was determined to reach the destruction of the universe which I found intriguing and would definitely be somewhere I'd love for the Doctor to go. It's good knowing that the Daleks will play a focal part in this series and I love the description of them being silver, but for me this episode is all about introducing Molly O'Sullivan. I was delighted to hear that she was Irish as that's an accent I can't ever tire of hearing on a woman, and she was so headstrong! I was really impressed with her debut. Her position as a VAD in the Great War was terrific and I loved her interaction with the Doctor. She wasn't going to be swept up by everything that makes him the Doctor. Hearing her use 'the' rather emphatically each time she mentioned his name was brilliant. I think I'm really going to like her. The way she dealt with Isabella was fantastic and she didn't want to show the injured men anything that might want to make them interested. Top buttons done up! That was hilarious. She really did respect the men she was trying to help heal though which was lovely. The threat of the gas was really intriguing and I very much enjoyed the train journey. The Doctor's helplessness when it came to the Matron confiscating the sonic screwdriver, or penny whistle as he referred to it here, was glorious. He was so defeated! The way he did get it back to fix the train track was good though and I liked the danger there. A train full of injured men has its problems! Kitty being eaten by the time wind was a shocking moment and I also thought Isabella's death in cold blood at the hands of Sturgis was absolutely brutal. He was a good villain and the attempt to infuse the Doctor with O-Positive blood was quite something! Molly's importance was soon revealed and I enjoyed the Doctor's earlier comment about her eyes. I'm intrigued by her significance. Just what did Sturgis and the Daleks want with her? The emergence of the Daleks at the cliffhanger was good and I imagine they're the last kind of race the Doctor wanted to see after his recent events! He was also rather angry at the Time Lords for not telling him they would be present. Overall, a really strong start to what looks set to be an excellent series! I already cannot wait for more.

Rating: 9/10