Doctor Who: Dark Eyes 4

The final part of the Dark Eyes quartet is fully up to the standard set by the prior parts. Once again, although packaged as four stories (with two writers alternating between them) it's really a single one, jumping about in time and space. The task for the writers here was to tie up all the plots and loose ends of the first three instalments, bringing back the Master, the Daleks, the Eminence, and more to bring everything full circle. As will be apparent from the cover, there are Sontarans in it, too, here playing a somewhat different role than they normally do.

While the Daleks are the main threat - as they were in the original instalment - it's really Alex MacQueen's Master who shines, dominating his portion of the story and getting some fantastic lines. Nicola Walker is also impressive as companion Liv Chenka, making her character likeable and sympathetic, while remaining distinct from prior TV companions.

Time travel and its repercussions are integral to the plot, something that's to be expected after the earlier offerings in the series. In this respect, the first segment is particularly interesting, taking a common sci-fi plot device and examining it from an entirely different perspective. There are also some fun ideas in here (particularly what one of the villains has done with the Moulin Rouge), and a good mix of different tones from the somewhat leisurely beginning to the dramatic and emotional conclusion, which is much stronger on the action.

This entire series has been consistently good, with perhaps its only real flaw being the sidelining of Molly after the first couple of releases. One suspects that might have had something to do with the availability of Ruth Bradley, and the need to set up Liv as a longer-term replacement once it became clear that Dark Eyes was going to be more than a one-off, but her introduction was so good that her reduction to background plot device is inevitably disappointing.

That aside, this finale brings together all the elements that made the earlier parts successful and provides a fitting conclusion to a plot arc and series that's longer than most of the TV show's seasons.