The Death of Hope

Dark Eyes #3.1

Released: 17 November 2014

Listened: 11/20/21

In the previous set, we had reduced Nick Briggs, and now we have none at all, as this set is entirely the Matt Fitton (writing) / Ken Bentley (directing) show. They also deliberately slow the action down and simplify a bit, so as to appeal to new listeners, something I don’t think they’ll do with the later boxes. This set is primarily the Doctor vs the Master, which is quite fine by me. This story provides the setup, which means it’s kind of perfunctory, and the Doctor does very little. Having kidnapped and brainwashed Molly, the Master and Sally Armstrong take her to a planet that’s been pretty much destroyed by the Eminence, to test out how exposure to the retrogenitor particles affects the population. However, the Master is incapable of doing anything covertly, so he has to show up like a hero who’s going to liberate the town from the Eminence. He even has a cowboy hat. The Master is usually fabulous when he’s pretending to help people, and this Master is no exception. It’s sad hearing Molly be dazed and confused throughout this story, thinking she’s doing the right thing. Meanwhile, the Doctor has been hijacked by Narvin, who wants him to intervene directly to stop the Master. Whether it was really necessary to show him this much backstory is debatable. This is the first time that Sean Carlson has appeared in a story with the Doctor, but he’ll be retconned into earlier meetings with the Doctor in other stories, establishing him as a chief CIA honcho. As a result, the acting and characterization in this story is excellent, but the plot is a little bit thin.