Big Finish review-The Diary of River Song 4

In The Diary of River Song Series 4, River Song finally encounters the legendary Fourth Doctor, after her adventures with the eighth, seventh, and sixth Doctors. Emma Reeves and Matt Fitton’s Time in a Bottle presents a fascinating story concept of a place in space where time has vanished. However, the story’s potential is limited by the box set format, which would have benefited from a longer runtime. Nevertheless, the story serves as a solid introductory adventure that introduces the main villain and pits River against her intellectual rival, showcasing her Doctor-like qualities. It’s a good old-fashioned pulp adventure with a James Bond-esque feel and receives a rating of 7/10.

Kings of Infinite Space is the strongest story in the set, featuring a well-paced, paradoxical, and fun adventure with action, humor, and great use of the vortex manipulator and time travel locations. Alex Kingston and the rest of the cast are on top form, making it feel like a Moffat-era Doctor Who story. It’s highly entertaining and rewards repeat listening, earning a rating of 8/10.

Whodunnit is an interesting story with thought-provoking philosophical discussions, well-rounded characters, and good pacing. However, it doesn’t quite fit in this box set, and given more time to explore the premise, it could have been great. It’s still an enjoyable listen with a fun take on murder mystery cliches, rating a 7/10.

The season finale, Someone I Once Knew, delivers an exciting and unexpected spin on the River/Doctor dynamic. John Dorney’s writing subverts expectations, and the chemistry between Tom Baker and Alex Kingston is natural and brilliant. It’s a promising pairing that fans will hope to see more of in the future, rating a 7/10.

Overall, Series 4 of The Diary of River Song successfully combines the unique styles of the Steven Moffat era and Big Finish originality. While not every story works perfectly and some suffer from prequel limitations, the set is an absolute joy to listen to and leaves listeners eager for Series 5.

River Song to return at Christmas

The BBC announced today that River Song will be joinging the Dcotor on his Christmas adventure.
The eleventh Christmas special started filming this week and is written by showrunner Steven Moffat and, is directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

The BBC also released this synopsis:

“It’s Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas”.

Alex Kingston said on her reappearance:

“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humor and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through. We had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September?, why not!”

Steven Moffat added:

“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her, she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”

The character of River first appeared in 2008. She’s often regarded as a marmite companion.
My feeling is that River is to Steven Moffat what Rose was to Russell T Davies. He’ll neve be able to resist bringing her back.

Book Review- The Brilliant Book 2012

The Brilliant Book 2012 is an outstanding read for any Doctor Who fan. With its encyclopedia-style format, it offers a plethora of mini-synopses on each episode, deleted scenes, interviews with the writers, cast, and directors, and even an explanation about the missing pirate.

The book’s attention to detail is impeccable, and readers will find themselves poring over every page. From a list of every hat ever worn by the Doctor to scripts from deleted scenes, Charles Dickens’ Twitter feed, George’s school report, and a behind-the-scenes look at the CGI and effects, this book has it all.

One of the book’s highlights is the inclusion of loads of little in-jokes and references. For example, Henry Gordon Jago presents the section on Madame Vastra, and there’s a fascinating history of the Corsair and the storyboard for the original opening of The Doctor’s Wife.

This is a book for the whole family to enjoy. Dads, kids, and even mums will love exploring the intricacies of the Doctor Who universe.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Episode 42: Let’s Kill Hitler

Martyn, Gerrod and Pete look at Doctor Who: Let’s Kill Hitler.



The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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Episode 25: The Impossible Astronaut

Martyn and Gerrod discuss the first episode of series 6 of Doctor Who, ‘The Impossible Astronaut’.

The episode was written by Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. It stars Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Alex Kingston and, Arthur Darvill.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.

Socials:

Twitter:

Martyn – @BadWilf

Gerrod –@InGerrodsMind

Pete – @BeeblePete

Instagram:

Martyn-@BadWilf