1939 and Gallifrey’s factions are far from home as they try to put time back on track. Secrets will be revealed in the conclusion of Series 1. Join Audio Club Extra as we take a train journey with Romana, Leela and Narvin and meet Miss Pollard - although probably not the one you were expecting.
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Apologies to all that this is almost a day late - I think some Cybermats have been chewing the wiring.
So…let’s see if this turns around some of the lukewarm opinions on the series so far.
This is my review but it’s packed with spoilers so wait till you’ve heard it!
I literally finished this five minutes ago and I really need to go to sleep, so deeper thoughts will have to wait, just, what the ■■■■?! I love this, I love Leela especially and, again, what the hell!
All throughout the first Gallifrey series of Audio Club Extras, people have been saying “just get to A Blind Eye that’s when it gets good” and, no?
In my opinion, the whole series is pretty solid - nothing great, just above average - but A Blind Eye isn’t when it “gets good” because I think it’s exactly as good as the three stories before it.
Gallifrey Series One is pretty consistent and I don’t think A Blind Eye is particularly separate from its predecessors. Strange time shenanigans, some governmental conspiracy and cover up, a few terrorists here and there, a boatload of confused exposition, A Blind Eye is the best of Series One, sure, but not by a mile.
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In fairness this is an 11/10 episode. I have wayyyy more to say abou this but I LOVE Leela. I love her. I adore her. 
Almost done with this. The pre-credits sequence with Romana and Arkadian is amazing. Torvald is scum and India Fisher does an excellent job playing Sissy. Miss Joy is kinda fun (played by the villain from Stones of Blood). And of course Leela is brilliant as always. And then there’s the big reveal.
Finished this tonight. It’s very good, wrapping the main threads of the season arc. The big reveal is excellent and very ending moments with letter were so sad. There’s some great dialogue in this, but I think the interaction between Leela and Sissy over her facist ideals is excellent. Looking forward to the next series.
I thought that this was the best of the set but I am still not thinking that this is amazing. Lela is good and the premises are good. I do have some problems in general in remembering who is who. I think that this makes it less good for me. I will continue with box 2.
Weirdly, even though I’m a huge Gallifrey fan, A Blind Eye is actually one of the weaker stories for me. It’s so tied into the Eighth Doctor continuity that you basically need to listen to three stories minimum just to understand some of it, it’s vastly different from anything before or after it (although, arguably, the saminess of seasons two and three are to their detriment), and I have never gotten over how ambiguously they treat a Nazi sympathizer.
That said, there’s a lot here to love, too. It pays off season one and sets up season two really well, and Leela in particular is served well. It’s not bad by any means, but I’m with @Speechless that it’s not an 11/10 story.
EDIT: Upon reading some people’s thoughts, I realise that my comment of “you basically need to listen to three stories minimum just to understand some of it” wasn’t quite accurate. On reflection, it’s probably better to say “you should listen to Neverland, and maybe two more stories, to get the full emotional impact of the story,” which was more of my intended point.
Honestly, I need to de-Twitterfy my thoughts. Years of intense hyperbole just to cut through the noise has really wrecked my online discourse, and I can only apologise for that.
Also, this might be just because I’ve been listening to this series for fifteen years (holy shit), but the Torvald is really Andred reveal works less and less each time I hear it, because I start to notice the problems with it. The first time it was mind-blowing, but on subsequent relistens it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Isn’t it just! I think it’s a delightful story, with some real emotional heft. Sissy is well portrayed and the absurdities of fascism highlighted. Leela does get some fantastic dialogue. Both Louise Jameson and Lalla Ward turn in excellent performances, but so does India Fisher.
For me, this is the point at which all the key elements have now been properly introduced. Season 2 is able to pick up from this point and really build.
A Blind Eye is, for me, a fantastic story.
Love it.
Sissy is hugely privileged in her background and, thus, very far removed from the consequences of her appalling beliefs.
Though an uncomfortable truth, it is a truth that fascism thrives and exploits weaknesses. I despise fascism. I despise everything it stands for, but I do recognise that not everyone sucked in by fascist ideology is necessarily evil (though the beliefs they perpetuate certainly are). If every Nazi sympathiser is always portrayed as unambiguously awful, the point is missed that many who get sucked in are victims as well. They are manipulated and used as tools by a regime that cares no more for them than for any other tool. The tragedy of fascism is that, other than the people at the top, everybody loses in the end when fascism prospers. Something worth remembering when we think of the dreadful rise of Trump and his ilk in the USA once again. Many of those who have been suckered in will suffer in turn. He is no more their saviour than other demagogues were saviours for their followers. Historically, we know the awful truth… and it’s tragic.
I think Sissy’s portrayal actually shows this quite well.
Oh trust me, I’ve been dealing with white supremacists since the 90s. I know all about that, so we can skip over the utter shitshow of US politics and focus on this story.
My issue is that, because Sissy is the sister of a character we like, and portrayed by the same actor, the script is geared for making the audience want to care about her. Further, I disagree with one of your points: she is unambiguously awful in her actions and beliefs.
I don’t hate it because (a) Leela actually calls her out on this, and (b) the script has the nuance to work in a critique of people who collect Nazi paraphernalia. So while it never apologises for her Nazism, I personally think it also never completely condemns her either. It’s always bugged me.
Still, given the current environment, I know that’s going to be contentious point, and I like that Gallifrey actually does step up to the plate and takes swings at these points, even if (for me) it doesn’t always do it as well as I’d like.
And just wait until we get to Mindbomb, a story about a presidential candidate who uses an assassination attempt as a method of gaining political favour…
Yes, I absolutely agree, but she’s shown to be a silly naive person. She could have been, as her sister was, much more open minded and so much more humane in her outlook, but she took the worst possible path. Like so many, she was able to believe these awful things because her life is so far removed from the consequences of those beliefs… until it isn’t. I think it is important that we see Sissy for how awful she is, but also for the person she could have been (as her sister was). There’s a tragedy there that is very real. Poisonous beliefs take away potential. It’s vile.
This is a key point. One thing I love about the best Sci Fi in general, and about Doctor Who in particular is that it does frequently ‘step upto the plate’.
There’s seldom a perfect story that does everything exactly the way I’d like it, or gets the emphasis exactly right in my book, but then that’s a key part of societal dialogue. Sometimes, this just helps us to consolidate our own position more effectively (which is a valuable thing in itself).
There are occasions where I award a 5/5 rating to stories that I believe to be imperfect. Indeed, I don’t believe any story is perfect, but if they get me thinking in the right way, if the aesthetic is rich enough, deep enough, if they have a fair headwind and I chime with the vibe… they deserve it for me.
And so, the pilot comes to a spectacular end. Is it so completely different from anything that has come before and after it in the series? Yes. But I think that helps it stand out. I said last week that this first season feels like an extended pilot, putting all the pieces on the chessboard and that feels very apparent here. The main players of the series arc are now in play. All that is left is for the political game to begin.
If memory serves right, the actual plot of A Blind Eye doesn’t really come back in any substantial way outside of The Reveal 
but more so gives you an idea of the political minefield of Gallifrey. What little things can you look away from? Turn a blind eye (ayyyy) to?
I actually think that each episode of this first season does that for an element of Gallifrey’s political landscape. Weapon of Choice shows us the big picture, Square One shows us the diplomatic landscape, The Inquiry shows us the interior landscape, and A Blind Eye pulls back that curtain to the darker and more subversive elements of Gallifrey’s political landscape. I don’t think we can effectively go into Lies without this first season setting everything up as well as it does.
This might be part of my problem with it. I have listed to little of Eight but not that much.
I’m trying to remember how it’s tied to 8th Doctor continuity because I didn’t think it was particularly linked at all.
That’s me as well, all the information you really need about the Pollards is in the story itself I think.
