Big Finish Productions Dark Eyes: Traitor

Written by	Nicholas Briggs
Format	Compact Disc
Released	2014

Starring Paul McGann

Synopsis: 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.

• Dalek Empire 2.0 by Noe Geric

Dalek Empire 2.0 by Noe Geric 31/5/24

Paul McGann is back again in another box set from Big Finish! Having listened to the War Doctor Agent of Chaos stories, and now being aware of how shit they were, it's time to experience another of the audio epic to finally know if they're all like that. I'm tempted to say yes... And no. First time I listened to Dark Eyes II, I was extremely disgusted by all of it. I was expecting great things, and I finally ended-up with one of the worst bunch of stories I could've imagined (not as bad as Agent of Chaos, happily). But after a second listen, I found myself enjoying The Traitor, the first story of the second volume. There's something obvious everyone should be aware of before listening to it: The Traitor is a ''What if the Doctor was in the Dalek Empire Spin-Off?'' If you were expecting something that would stand-out from the previous Dark Eyes adventures and the rest of the Big Finish catalogue, be ready for a disappointment... The Traitor is average Dalek - Doctor Who and nothing else.

The Doctor doesn't appear until 15 minutes in the story. So, for a quarter of the episode, we follow Dr Liv Chenka (from the audio story Robophobia), and it's another example in the ''We really loved working with this actor so the character should come back'.' That's how you end-up with a Vienna spin-off or the comeback of every shitty character from previous Big Finish plays. Liv Chenka isn't bad, far from it, but I don't think she is that interesting. The stories in this box set are out of order. That means the Doctor we see in this story has already lived the next three adventures of the set. That's a clever idea, but it's handed very badly. Nicholas Briggs just rewrote The Dalek Invasion of Earth but on another planet.

There's good worldbuilding in the first half of the play. With some continuity references, it even manages to be likeable. The whole ''Traitor'' sub-plot was a very clever concept, but it isn't used to great advantages. And, great lord, why is the Doctor so ineffective here?! He doesn't do anything until 40 minutes in. He disguises himself as one of the robot men and that's all! Mind you, the second half of the episode isn't that interesting... It just consists of shout and shoots, with Daleks going crazy and the Doctor being tested by their evil scheme. The cliffhanger even manages to be crap despite being a good idea (and a good pun on the title). I still don't understand the point of this episode. It's all over the place and the characters go from a place, to another, and comes back to the first.

I should point that the episode opens on an incredibly weird succession of noises trying to tell you something, but I only got it at the second listen. That pre-title sequence is also rather odd and has nothing to do with the story. It's average Briggs, that guy began to be redundant... And so are the Daleks. Perhaps the production team really love them, but they're becoming irritating with their never-ending comeback and unoriginal stories. They're in half the Dark Eyes box-set, and they are just the same as ever!

The Traitor is just blank. Nothing happens, and that cliffhanger won't be resolved until the third episode of the box set, so don't get excited. Paul McGann tries his best while being given absolutely nothing to do, and Liv Chenka is just an average companion. I hope she gets better in Doom Coalition, because she'll quickly feel redundant too. Nicholas Briggs should take a rest. He has already written the complete first box set, and now he feels out of steam for original ideas. Conclusion: a poor beginning to this box set. At least, it's better than the War Doctor stories! 4/10