A Life in the Day

"We'd barely even met him and he gave up his life for us."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: March 2015

Series: Dark Eyes 4.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv

Synopsis

The Doctor and Liv return to post-World War One London, where the Doctor meets Kitty Donaldson, and Liv strikes a friendship with her brother Martin. But what mysterious force is hunting them?

Verdict

A Life in the Day was a strong start to the fourth and final series of Dark Eyes! I'm very excited for what this boxset is set to bring after an epic journey to get here and whilst none of the enticing ingredients featured on the series cover art were present in this episode, I thought this was great! We've still got Daleks, Sontarans and the Master to come but for now this was a strong showing for Liv in particular. I like how the Doctor is still concerned for Molly despite the Time Lords supposedly putting her back in her own time period and place, and having him reunited with Kitty was a good way to hark back to The Great War when Molly was caring for her. The timeline being a little distorted and tricky at this point because of Molly and her dark eyes along with the Time Lord involvement was good and it was fun that the androids couldn't locate the TARDIS that they sought so much. The reaction of the Doctor and Liv when they realised the androids were not after either of them was hilarious but they were sure to use them. They wanted the TARDIS for their ominous and absent controller who I'm sure will be a familiar face and it was just delightful for the Doctor and Liv to almost feel left out! I thought the Doctor and Kitty made a good pairing, but the story was certainly all about the blossomed combination of Martin and Liv. She wasn't exactly used to everyday life in London no matter the time period and the Doctor not really acknowledging her dress when she just wanted a little affirmation was a shame, but showed how oblivious he is to that kind of thing. She soon learned to laugh with Martin which was just lovely to hear as they went to the cinema and the British Museum. Not a bad first date in the slightest to show her around London! She was clearly having a good time but I don't think she had any inkling of anything more than just a nice little friendship, whereas he was already falling in love with her. For Martin, he'd been living the day on more than one occasion and it wasn't always the same day. He couldn't age or die without losing himself and the one he now loved, and as each day was different he would fall in love with her all over again and again. That was both poignant and also quite sad because she would never feel the same way. She was meeting him for the first time on each occasion. I liked the threat of the androids in the fact that they were clearly controlled by a higher power, and they really did sound robotic. The Doctor appreciating that they weren't alive giving him more options on how to deal with them was marvellous and quite unique! I was a little disappointed that the way things ended felt slightly ambiguous and open-ended given the emotional impact Liv felt by Martin's sacrifice, but then he was just back to live in the loop again. It was admirable but can you really fall in love with somebody that quick? There was no indication of getting to Molly again but the Doctor and Liv had to escape rather hastily which was fun and sets up nicely moving forward as the series looks to conclude. Overall, a really emotional episode to kick off the series! 

Rating: 8/10