Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Alex Kingston, Charles Armstrong, Annette Badland, Timothy Blore, Aurora Burghart, Annabelle Dowler, Daniel Easton, Jaye Griffiths, Clive Hayward, Paul Heath, Janet Henfrey, Glen McCready, Wanda Opalinska, David Rintoul, Issy Van Randwyck, Robert Whitelock.
A life without seeing the Doctor, it is a dream of many, to avoid the consultation rooms, to sidestep having to sit next to the person with the queasy cough from spluttering their germs over you, to steer clear of the condescending questions that ask everything except how you truly are; the truth though is that at some point we need the Doctor, we understand that a niggle today can be a serious condition tomorrow.
Life though without The Doctor doesn’t mean you have forgotten about them, but that you have found a way to have adventures of your own, a state of being that River Song finds dangerous, watchful and utterly thrilling as the seventh series of The Diary Of River Song comes without a Doctor’s warning on the packet.
The Doctor’s wife she may be, but that doesn’t mean she is tied at the hip, that her life has any less of a meaning if he, or those he has opposed, are not around. A person is not defined by that they are with, but by the actions taken of their own accord, the heroism in the face of danger when none of their friends are there to witness it. We all possess such blood in our veins,
With sterling performances by Liverpool’s Annabelle Dowler as the multi-lives Integer, Jaye Griffiths as Sister Ursula, David Rintoul as the defending counsel Hodgkiss and Clive Hayward capturing the essence of the alien antagonists in James Kettle’s courtroom romp in Barrister to the Stars, the seventh series of The Diary Of River Song is one of fascination, one that perhaps fills in more gaps to the archaeologist’s life that the previous six Big Finish serials bearing her name. That is not to say that the time with The Doctor can be dismissed, but that it breaks down the boundaries which are erected when she is perceived as being second billing in the Doctor’s own adventures.
Through the excellent Nordic Noir feel of James Goss’ Colony of Strangers, the religious fever of Abbey of Heretics by Lizabeth Myles, the aforementioned Barrister to the Stars by James Kettle and Roy Gill’s Weeping Angels epic A Carnival Of Angels, The Diary Of River Song is up to date and polished as never before. There are always pages that we won’t be privy to, the sense of mystery will prevail, but whilst there is intrigue, mild innuendo, and stories to tell for the Doctor, Professor River Song will be able top them with her own classic solo adventures.
Ian D. Hall