A Requiem for the Doctor

"The gratitude of widows has kept you alive."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner
Format: Audio
Released: January 2018
Series: The Diary of River Song 3.02

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, River Song

Synopsis

River has joined the Doctor and his friend Brooke on their travels, and they stop off in 18th century Vienna.

Brooke thinks history is dull. Until people start dying.

Mozart's legacy is not just his music. River has more than one mystery to solve before a killer is let loose on the people of Vienna - and on the Doctor.

Verdict

A Requiem for the Doctor was another great audio to continue the third series of The Diary of River Song! It didn't quite have the unique feel of River Song having a story with a past incarnation of the Doctor and I guess I'm just used to that now, even if this was her first outing with the Fifth Doctor. I would have perhaps liked a little more immediate continuation from the cliffhanger ending to The Lady in the Lake but at the same time I quite liked that we were thrown straight into the adventure with River Song already having taken her place alongside the Doctor and Brooke. The latter made for an interesting companion and I was quite surprised that the Doctor clearly had sympathy for her. She wasn't as clever as River and she knew it but the Doctor seemed confident that she would get there one day, even if she had been travelling with him for a long time now. I have a hunch I know why she wanted to kill the Doctor but I look forward to finding out the truth in the second half of this series. Alex Kingston was terrific once again as River and I loved how her love for the Doctor shone through. She was a little careless in revealing what she knew about the Doctor when she mentioned the sonic and I loved how the Fifth Doctor's run without the sonic screwdriver was taken advantage of here. She seemed to cover it up by pretending she meant a sonic lance and reacting hysterically to the very idea of a sonic screwdriver. Peter Davison gave a decent performance as the Fifth Doctor and I do hope that there's more time in the next story for them to bounce off each other in a flirtatious way. I think that's where River works best with the Doctor, regardless of his incarnation. She was clearly trying to outdo Brooke and claim her superiority and she succeeded at times as the Doctor quickly knew that River didn't need him. He felt like Brooke did need him though. Giulia was a very good character and her connection with Mozart and the aqua tofana was very good. The parasites literally inhabiting the emotions was fantastic and I liked how they weren't simply feeding on it. It was quite unique which is always good. Antoinette was a lovely character but her death was quite distressing, as were all of the deaths that occurred through the aqua tofana poison. The acids melting the abdomen away was quite horrifying! The way the Doctor, River and Brooke prevented the spread of tofana through the music was good and pacy and I liked the Vienna setting as a whole throughout. Brooke finally breaking her disguise as companion and planning to kill the Doctor was not unexpected but she did seem a bit inept in failing to allow the Doctor to open the doors to let River in. River saving his life through the positive emotions she had by loving him was wonderful but I would like to know why Brooke hated the Doctor so much. We will soon find out. Overall, a terrific audio adventure!

Rating: 8/10