The Traitor [AUDIO/2014.2.12]

★★★☆☆

  Dark Eyes 2 is a very different beast to Dark Eyes; while the first boxset is very much contained and was clearly produced without foreknowledge and foreplanning of potential future releases, Dark Eyes 2 feels like a segment of a bigger puzzle and acts more as an introduction piece for the Doctor's new companion (and old players). While there's a tiny part of me down there, deep inside my noggin, that perhaps the novelty of the original Dark Eyes would have been retained had the subsequent boxsets not been produced, I'm still very glad these came to see the light of day. For one, it re-introduced a Big Finish character and turned her into one of my favourite companions: Liv Chenka. When the scene changes from an arresting opening sequence to a ramshackle hut and we hear Liv musing on the state of her life and this world under the rule of the Daleks... you immediately know that she's going to be different from your usual companion mould.

  The Traitor is basically Dalek Empire condensed into an hour-long action (not least for putting "the Traitor" Liv into the Angel of Mercy/Susan Mendes role), and it's an opportunity for Nick Briggs to show just how good he is at direction again. Sound effects are used with such precision, the Dalek ring modulators are crisp and arresting, and the plot moves by in a flurry. Not that there's a whole lot when it comes to plot here (it's basically just your normal Dalek runaround produced well), but it's still an entertaining piece of audio. Its greatest flaw for me is that, because it's such an archetypical Dalek action adventure, it becomes pretty much forgettable in the advent of other, more original stories even in the same boxset -- but hey, at least it serves its purpose and brings us Liv as a companion.