The Monster of Montmartre

"Information is a commodity."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: March 2015

Series: Dark Eyes 4.02

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv

Synopsis

The Doctor and Liv's investigations bring them to Paris, where a monster stalks the streets.

Verdict

The Monster of Montmartre was an excellent episode to continue my way through the fourth and final series of Dark Eyes! I must say I didn't get the vibe from the first half of the story that this was going to feature the Daleks but here they were in full fashion with some soldiers at the behest of the Dalek Time Controller. That most interesting of Daleks turning out to be the mysterious and unseen husband of Adelaine was a big surprise indeed! I thought that was good fun and the very idea of a Dalek wedding was hilarious. Of course, it was all concocted by the Time Controller himself with Adelaine actually being a Dalek duplicate grown from its own cells. There was a lot of blending with modern era episodes in having humans turned into Daleks, the opposite of Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks and then the whole thing of the Time Controller's connection with Molly seems akin to the maniacal nature of Dalek Caan at the point of The Stolen Earth. And then there was the whole plan for the Dalek Time Controller to usher in a new Dalek Paradigm pointing towards Victory of the Daleks which was great fun. The Doctor seemed to have a chuckle about that comment in particular! I thought Liv was fun as the companion once again as she wasn't familiar with the time or the place, and the Doctor giving her Euros didn't go down well as the currency hadn't yet been invented! The mystery of the TARDIS being missing after the events of A Life in the Day was very good and I enjoyed that it provided direction for the plot. The Doctor building the relationship with Christian was good as he knew that the artist was being taken advantage of by Adelaine. She was preying on artists looking for a break and basically milking them dry of their money. This was a living that wasn't consistent and when one needed to pay by other means, Adelaine used her own distinctive charm to lure them to her 'husband' to become Daleks. That was quite spectacular! Once the Dalek Time Controller emerged, things really shifted into a new gear and instantly felt on a much bigger scale than 1920s Paris. The artistic theme with the French capital setting was good but it definitely shifted into an improvement once we got Dalek involvement. I loved the description of the way it made its entrance on the stage after exterminating from below and that really is something I would love to have seen. I would also love to have seen the Dalek Time Controller with his dark eye and the fact it allowed Liv to see his connection to Molly was intriguing. I certainly want answers! Her story is far from finished which is exciting and I am no wiser as to how this saga is going to conclude. I'm very excited though! I don't think it was too much of a surprise to find that it was the Master who was the architect of everything that the Time Controller was doing, but it was still a superb entrance. Who else would it be? The Time Controller asking about the Eminence War is good continuity too and I can't wait for everything to all tie together. I do wonder if we will stay in the 1921 setting now the Master and the Daleks have arrived, but the TARDIS is still awol so I suspect so! Overall, this was a really strong story seeing the Dalek Time Controller try to shape his own reality and timeline. A fantastic episode! 

Rating: 9/10