The Diary of River Song Series Nine - New Recruit

 

The Diary of River Song Series Nine

How wonderful it is, that Professor River Song's tales should be so enduring at Big Finish - it was my first actual Big Finish purchase to get The Diary of River Song Volume One, and although some consider that first set to be flawed, I saw stars from the beginning. That single first purchase still feels like a whole new world was opened up...Even now the illustrious "Signs" remains one of my favorite episodes of Big Finish. River works perfectly, and is one of the few Big Finish spinoffs that I shouldn't like to change a thing about. While the Paternoster Gang or UNIT struggle with formula, something like Tales From New Earth is completely irrelevant and smaller scale releases like Donna Kidnapped or Martha Jones are difficult to consider as spinoffs (at the moment I believe they're more one-shots) The Diary of River Song has long been a series that knew it's identity. Some criticize the continuity being overblown or River meeting Classic Doctors, but I see this as a natural extension of what River is distilled into a spinoff herself. She is loud, boisterous and flamboyant, and quite frankly, in terms of Doctor Who, a boundary breaker. She, like Romana or her contemporary, Bernice Summerfield showed us that 'yes, a female Doctor Who could work' and not only that 'romances with Doctor Who work' and so many more. River Song changed Doctor Who, and she has a complicated timeline. I love the natural extension of that. Of course River is going to make her timeline worse in her spinoff series. Why wouldn't she? That's the point, isn't it? While I groan at announcements like UNIT meeting the Quarks, whenever I hear that River's met the Fifth Doctor or Henry Gordon Jago or Sabalom Glitz or Dodo or whatever, my reaction is, well. Of course. And perhaps, a slight smirk at this wonderful irrepressible character and how beautifully she shines. The Diary of River Song Series Nine is equally special because after four boxsets of standalone stories based around a theme, River is returning to her original formula, the arc with the classic Doctor. I'm so excited. Here's to another Nine Boxsets, River Song! Because quite frankly - at this point she's earned the right to a spinoff more than anyone else that isn't named Sir Derek Jacobi. 

The Blood Woods by Lizbeth Myles

You may note a discrepancy when it comes to this one between my enjoyment of this audio - unparalleled, and the actual criticism part of the review. This is because The Blood Woods is a simple story with not much of an aim behind it beyond being fun as hell. It completely and utterly succeeds at this, actually. It's not got much in mind in terms of plot, instead focusing on a wonderful sense of palpable atmosphere of a moody yet wonderfully quirky secluded English village. There's sort of an alien threat, but it's not important, really. Because really, what the story is concerned about is creating a partnership between two of Doctor Who's strongest female leads - River Song and Liz Shaw. I'd not heard Daisy Ashford as Liz before this audio, and I can't help but conclude that she is THE best recast that Big Finish have. Uncannily exact to the original whilst not sacrificing performance to do a mere impression as some do, no, what helps is Daisy Ashford is a actress first, who happens to sound like her mother, but she's trying to just perform, not to emulate. So much of the story is simply Kingston and Ashford interacting, and it really does work simply based off of their chemistry. The Blood Woods is draped in Pertwee era atmosphere, but it doesn't fall to that era's pitfalls of having a Seven-episode serial of mostly filler. The Blood Woods is a small story with a small goal. It succeeds at it admirably. At times the story reminded me of Jago and Litefoot - oh, time wise it couldn't be further, but the focus on atmosphere and a duo that play off of eachother well and their character instead of plot: Clearly it's a winning formula. This is how you write River Song -  I have rarely had so little complaints when it comes to an audio - I won't rank it as high because on a technical level it probably isn't, but on a simple "FUN" level, The Blood Woods exceeds hundreds of other productions. 9/10 

Terror of the Suburbs by James Kettle

Terror of the Suburbs doesn't truly open promisingly, with what initially seems to be an amnesia plotline erasing a lot of the development from episode one, but by around the Ten minute mark, the story is already firing on all cylinders, and exactly where it needs to be. I like Terror of the Suburbs - I don't love it, because quite frankly, I exist in a post-Wandavision world, and every story I do with an idyllic town where all the residents act ever so slightly odd and try and force you to integrate into their own world will inevitably be compared in my mind to that show. And I almost would like Terror of the Suburbs more if It DID go further in the sitcom direction. But what it does, even if it's plot is simple, is still brave, and it's fun. It's sort of a bit like the opening hook of The Heavenly Paradign, if you've done that one, a perfect suburb that hides a secret is a lovely start to a Doctor Who story, and I sort of feel like it's been done before even if it hasn't. It really does appeal, and the characters are all interesting and the "weird stuff" taking Liz and River out of the idyllic town (like the lion walking down the street) are just incredible. Especially since the explanation is so satisfying. Less good than the Blood Woods, but not by much, and they succeed for quite similar reasons: 8/10

Never Alone by Helen Goldwyn.

By this point, River and Liz, as two both incredibly intelligent and endearing yet rather different leads have established themselves, even slightly lesser episodes are a joy to behold. A good comparison to this, I feel, would be a story like Planet of the Ood. Utterly episode of the week - yet it's elevated to no end by the sheer chemistry between Tennant and Tate. Alex Kingston and Daisy Ashford are what I feel to be one of the ultimate duos Big Finish have put together. It's so surprising how well they work together, but they still fit together marvelously. An average plot episode like this one or or Praxeus, or whatever the hell, you can have an average episode and have it be really enjoyable just because the actors are killing it. This is one of the best examples of that in my opinion - every member of the cast is firing on all cylinders. The elements of the plot have mostly all been heard before, like I said, but it's elevated by a fun supporting cast and weirdly a space invaders video game sequence that only adds to the UNIT dating Controversy. Regardless, it's got some great music, and some great performances, so I can't say it's bad, really: 6/10 

Rivers of Light by Lisa McMullin

Lisa McMullin, to no one's surprise, pens a very witty and natural River. This is the Third Doctor tale of the set, and River and Three's interactions are fun, especially in the opening, but ultimately I cared much more for the River and Liz relationship. Their storyline throughout these four stories remains the one thing that I'd say puts River 9 over previous sets, and having an intelligent foil to work off of allows River to shine. It's so interesting, especially since it's such a crackpot pairing, but it remains the one thing of the set I can unconditionally praise. That and the incidental characters, this story has some really believable and earthy and wonderful guest stars - they don't even do much. But they're wonderful. And the concepts are fun, and as a finale story it ties up the set perfectly. Especially with a very surprising and wonderful cameo near the end of it. I don't have much to say about the individual stories in this set, I feel. When it comes down to it, this set has been successful exclusively by how much FUN it is. Every time I finished a story in this set, I felt so much joy and life in me, which is especially wonderful considering how apathetic I had been towards many stories recently. DORS 9 is a perfect example of perfect imperfection. It's not The Holy Terror or The Sky Man in that it has flaws to it, but very little will light up your day as much as this boxset can, it's four flawed stories that are the perfect level of "oh my, I really love this" and you know? After a few average main range releases, sometimes you need stories that bring you that unbridled enthusiasm. 8/10