The Monster of Montmartre

Dark Eyes #4.2

Released: 2 March 2015

Listened: 11/24/21

We flip over to Matt Fitton for this story, in which the TARDIS has been stolen, but politely stayed on the same planet in the same time period, so the Doctor and Liv are able to track it to Paris. Which means we get to have fun with eccentric artists, criminals, and dancers against a decadent Parisian background. Except the Moulin Rouge has become a Red Pagoda for some reason. It’s tricky to see where this one is going, as the Doctor and Liv each pursue their own clues. Liv holds up her end quite well, seeming more confident in her past than she has before. The Doctor, in contrast, seems rather judgmental of the ethically shady characters he encounters, but then, someone has stolen his TARDIS. How it unravels is a good surprise that I won’t spoil. Although several necessary plot elements come together here, there’s a slight sense of killing time in this one. The climax is approaching, but this story lacks the urgency you’d expect, until the very end.