Tangled Web [AUDIO/2012.11.10]

★★★☆☆

  It's quite evil of Nicholas Briggs to continue the emotional and psychological torture of the Eighth Doctor, this time by trapping him inside an alternate world in which Daleks have reformed and are striving to revert their genetic process. Imagine how he would feel, just having lost Lucie and Alex to the pepperpots... no, I take that back, I know exactly how he'd feel: he'd be heartbroken at the face of this seemingly real prospect, and he'd be nonetheless clamouring to believe this fantasy because deep down, that's what he favours over angst and bloodshed. It's a tough job to bring all this to life, but Paul McGann does the material justice once again. It's amazing what a few years can do to one's perspective; I thought Dark Eyes as one of McGann's least impressive turns back in 2012, but now I see that it's one of his most masterful. So many emotions are boiling under the scarred and depressed visage, and it's equally great that Ruth Bradley is up to the task of matching up to the raised standard. 

  As the penultimate entry of Dark Eyes, Tangled Web has the rather dubious pleasure of having to move the plot and pieces towards the finish line. I'll say that landing the TARDIS duo inside a mindwarp facility and making up the entire story as a false shared projection is neither the most engaging nor the most original, but I still had fun with it regardless. Nicholas Briggs has a bit too much fun playing the "kind" Daleks, apologising to the Doctor and Molly about scaring them and parading around children giggling with his ring modulator and shouting "time to play!", and it really is something that has to be listened to be believed.