Big Finish Productions is the audio production company and publisher that has brought you a wide range of Doctor Who series with its many spin-offs. They have used River Song as a leading character in many of their audio series. In the past, they have also produced audiobooks featuring the characters from Torchwood and Sherlock Holmes.

River Song returns, except this time she isn’t with the Doctor. In this new Big Finish audio series The Diary of River Song: Series Seven, Alex Kingston reprises her role of River Song to turn detective and bring us exciting, new adventures. River Song appears in the Doctor Who television series as the Doctor’s wife. However, her twisted timeline means she and the Doctor rarely see events from the same perspective! They meet several times, but the Doctor never truly knows exactly how they will interact. River Song has a diary filled with every time they have met, and only she has access to this diary.

What Alex Kingston says about being part of Big Finish

 “I feel really lucky because one day I’m in a Scandi Noir, the next I’m back being Melody Malone in New York, investigating a murder. Then it’s nuns with guns and buns, with a largely female cast, and – finally – facing the Weeping Angels. I’m really thrilled, because it’s quite rare for River to encounter some of her old foes in the audio adventures.

“I’ve been given the most incredible gift, because River’s diary can go on forever. The fact that she wrote down and kept track of all of her adventures back and forth in time, and across the universe, means the writers can keep inventing new stories for her. It really is the gift that keeps on giving.”

What we can look forward to in these new stories

River’s latest adventures span across four stories. In these stories, she is not working with the Doctor. She is on her own, playing detective through time and space.

It starts off with Colony of Strangers by James Goss. On the bleak Nordic colony of Bondar, bodies are washing up on the beach. The Mayor and the police are mystified, but then a prime suspect turns up. This suspect just may be their best hope of solving the case. In Abbey of Heretics by Lizbeth Myles coming next, England is at war outside the walls of a remote 12th Century Abbey. Inside, a strange sickness runs rife, and there are rumors of a devil in the woods. Death stalks the novices. When Sister Melody (River Song’s alias) arrives in search of a book, she may be their only salvation. Of course, then River Song ends up outside of the law in the third installment Barrister to the Stars by James Kettle. River stands accused of murder. Her one hope is that she is allowed to choose the legal system under which she’ll be tried. Enter Roger Hodgkiss: a negative, bad-tempered lawyer taken from a 20th Century English courtroom. He may be out of his depth, but he’ll always stand up for the underdog. The final installment of these adventures brings River Song face to face with old, terrifying foes: The Weeping Angels. Carnival of Angels by Roy Gill takes place in New York in the 1950’s. Melody Malone (yet another alias of River Song) is new in town and her detective agency is called on to solve an impossible murder. River’s investigations lead her to a curious carnival ride, offering trips to either Heaven or Hell. Angels are in waiting, so it seems that Heaven may not be the best choice.

My thoughts on this new series

River Song is an iconic character in the sense that she is be able to travel through time and space, just as the Doctor can, while helping others and saving whatever world she is in. It will be fun to follow her through her own adventures away from the Doctor’s exact timeline.

The audio clip of each of these stories sounds full of intensity and intrigue. Bodies washing up on the beach in a Nordic colony sounds like they aren’t necessarily dead. We hear River yelling at someone asking, “Who did this to you?” A strange sickness flows across 12th century England, and we hear that a woman’s skin is shimmering? Is this some sort of genetic disease? Decontamination is activated by a robotic voice! Are they on an alternate Earth somehow? While being questioned by the lawyer in New York, River lets the someone know that “her murder” is time consuming. I have always loved how sarcastic and sassy River Song is. Some alien force arrives and is ready to destroy everyone! This must be where River “runs from the law.” When faced with the Weeping Angels, I have no doubt River will come out victorious as she has in the past! Each of these stories with River Song as a detective sound like a lot of fun.

The Diary of River Song Series Seven will be available January 2020 here.

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