The Diary of River Song S4: There is a gag involving massive hands, and a joke about eating
Don't ask.
Otherwise, this installment of DORS finds River fighting against the Discordia, devil-looking alien space-time pirates, with a variety of companions and later with the Fourth Doctor.
The series starts with “Time in a Bottle.” River, at this point in her life a professor at Luna University, is part of a group (including a giant space insect and a cyborg) investigating a signal from a place where there is no time, unaware that it’s a trap.
I thought this was a solid start to this series. Since the synopsis mentions the enemies of the series, the Discordia, I don’t think it’s a massive spoiler to say that they’re the ones that set the trap. The Discordian voice is hard to understand, but the other sound effects are fantastic. I think River’s rival’s heel face turn is a bit sudden in this story, but I liked the humorous elements in it-the aforementioned start to the story proper, and River unimpressed by the Discordia. As mentioned before, they look like stereotypical devils.
I think a lot of people would be unimpressed by the Discordia as well.
“Kings of Infinite Space” finds River, her companions, and (yes) a River clone trying to destroy the Discordia’s fleet. This story didn’t move me the way “Time in a Bottle” did, but it was humorous is parts, such as when River’s clone claims she’s sexier than Actual River, as well as Actual River’s rant against monologues.
“Whodunnit” is my personal favorite. River finds herself outside a mansion, seeking help for her dying husband. Instead, she decides to take up her Melody Malone alias to solve a murder mystery along with Franz Kafka (with a Russian-sounding accent?). I don’t want to spoil the twist in text, but this story reminds me of this story, in a way. My only gripe with this story are the over-the-top accents. Otherwise, this is a great story with a great twist. And there’s an added bonus: there are two minor female characters in a relationship in this story!
“Someone I Once Knew” finds River needing help from the Fourth Doctor to stop the Discordia. Thing is, somehow the Doctor knows who she is, and isn’t fooled by her lie (and this really feels like it was taken from Eleven-era fan speculation) that she’s a future regeneration of Romana. While River is captured to become a Discordian queen, the Doctor concocts a way to save her. It took me a while to get into this Doctor/River matchup, but I actually like it! And the story feels very Four-era-ish. It’s a great coda to the story.
I always speak well of these behind the scenes documentaries, so I’ll bring up a small factoid in regards to this particular documentary: Alex Kingston felt a bit out of it playing a disembodied head in this audio drama. No other spoilers in regards to the story it comes from.
I've lamented about how Doctor-heavy the previous DORS audio stories were, so it was nice to have an audio story that's mostly about River's adventures for once. (Yes, I know, there's also the next Master-heavy installment.) I can't say that this is my favorite DORS audio. But I will have to say it's one of my favorites.
This entry was originally posted at https://merryghoul.dreamwidth.org/378042.html. Comments on either site are fine.
Otherwise, this installment of DORS finds River fighting against the Discordia, devil-looking alien space-time pirates, with a variety of companions and later with the Fourth Doctor.
The series starts with “Time in a Bottle.” River, at this point in her life a professor at Luna University, is part of a group (including a giant space insect and a cyborg) investigating a signal from a place where there is no time, unaware that it’s a trap.
I thought this was a solid start to this series. Since the synopsis mentions the enemies of the series, the Discordia, I don’t think it’s a massive spoiler to say that they’re the ones that set the trap. The Discordian voice is hard to understand, but the other sound effects are fantastic. I think River’s rival’s heel face turn is a bit sudden in this story, but I liked the humorous elements in it-the aforementioned start to the story proper, and River unimpressed by the Discordia. As mentioned before, they look like stereotypical devils.
I think a lot of people would be unimpressed by the Discordia as well.
“Kings of Infinite Space” finds River, her companions, and (yes) a River clone trying to destroy the Discordia’s fleet. This story didn’t move me the way “Time in a Bottle” did, but it was humorous is parts, such as when River’s clone claims she’s sexier than Actual River, as well as Actual River’s rant against monologues.
“Whodunnit” is my personal favorite. River finds herself outside a mansion, seeking help for her dying husband. Instead, she decides to take up her Melody Malone alias to solve a murder mystery along with Franz Kafka (with a Russian-sounding accent?). I don’t want to spoil the twist in text, but this story reminds me of this story, in a way. My only gripe with this story are the over-the-top accents. Otherwise, this is a great story with a great twist. And there’s an added bonus: there are two minor female characters in a relationship in this story!
“Someone I Once Knew” finds River needing help from the Fourth Doctor to stop the Discordia. Thing is, somehow the Doctor knows who she is, and isn’t fooled by her lie (and this really feels like it was taken from Eleven-era fan speculation) that she’s a future regeneration of Romana. While River is captured to become a Discordian queen, the Doctor concocts a way to save her. It took me a while to get into this Doctor/River matchup, but I actually like it! And the story feels very Four-era-ish. It’s a great coda to the story.
I always speak well of these behind the scenes documentaries, so I’ll bring up a small factoid in regards to this particular documentary: Alex Kingston felt a bit out of it playing a disembodied head in this audio drama. No other spoilers in regards to the story it comes from.
I've lamented about how Doctor-heavy the previous DORS audio stories were, so it was nice to have an audio story that's mostly about River's adventures for once. (Yes, I know, there's also the next Master-heavy installment.) I can't say that this is my favorite DORS audio. But I will have to say it's one of my favorites.
This entry was originally posted at https://merryghoul.dreamwidth.org/378042.html. Comments on either site are fine.