Precious Annihilation

"We're on a treasure hunt!"

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: November 2020

Series: Tenth Doctor and River Song 1.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, River Song

Synopsis

When jewels become lethal in the London of 1912, both River and the Doctor turn up to find out why.

A mystery takes them centuries into the past, and onto the high seas, where a superstitious crew edges towards mutiny.

The star-crossed couple are about to find out that, while gemstones inspire jealousy, love can be the deadliest treasure of all...

Verdict

Precious Annihilation was a superb audio story to continue the adventures of the Tenth Doctor and River Song! The pairing worked so well together here and this was exactly what I had hoped for from this boxset. The tone was established early on with the workers finding some valuable jewellery during their expedition and the site imploding soon after was great stuff! It established the issue at hand and the site owner celebrating the gold find was delightful as it was a perfect way to introduce the Doctor and River into the action. The Doctor's reaction to seeing her was magnificent and I loved how in control River felt from the start. The unexpected nature of this combined with linking the implosion to the Elizabethan era and the Cheapside Horde was fantastic. The pair venturing into the TARDIS was terrific and I am all here for as many adventures as possible for the Tenth Doctor alongside his future wife. Their efforts to trace the horde back to the seventeenth century was brilliant and I actually loved the setting of London during this period. River finding her dressing room within the TARDIS was tremendous and the Doctor's gawping reaction at her being in a corset was marvellous and Rive telling him to pick his jaw up was just magnificent. That was River at her best and she was just exuding the ability she had to flaunt control. Gerrard's introduction as a jeweller and potential owner of what would become the order was very good and I liked the mystery of him seemingly talking to his wife in ghost form. River taking some items of the collection for evolution and finding that some were counterfeits were fun, and the prized item being an emerald frog just felt perfectly Doctor Who! The idea that Gerrard was planting imploding jewels was excellent and the prospect of Queen Elizabeth herself having one was really good, especially considering the Tenth Doctor's connection with her. Both he and River immediately sensing the temporal change in Gerrard's parlour was great and the outlawed chemical of Coralthracite (sp?) being uncontrollable was brilliant. I was a big fan. It carrying the death penalty everywhere was good and I liked the intrigue of Omara being Gerrard's wife and the true jewellery maker. It was also interesting to learn that he was a jewel collector since he was a child and his entrancement from Omara's creations of beauty was very nicely done. The revelation that Gerrard killed out of love was also well done. River being referred to as a sea witch was wonderful and the TARDIS going overboard along with her and the Doctor was an excellent scene and the way out being holding breath was tremendous. Gerrard's suicide by jumping overboard was a very sudden and impactful moment but that allowing him to part way with Omara's locket was good because the TARDIS was able to trace that back to India in 1912 which was a good shift. We ended up on Omara's ship which I liked a lot and her being just bones now was disturbing! The concept of her virtual backup was terrific though and the efforts to interact worked well. The way she challenged the Doctor on his love for River was outstanding and I found it intriguing that the Doctor loved River at this point in his life. Her efforts to feed off the TARDIS were admirable and the discussion of Dolrekka and the fact that it was imploded but down as a voluntary decision made the Doctor very angry indeed. The idea of Omara having planted objects on planets as assurance was a really good concept and a fantastic plan. The Doctor's challenge to Omara to prove her actions were out of love and not fear was superb and I liked how that sparked a change of heart, even if it was a little quick. Omara's ship collapsing whilst she got stronger was very good and the potential of it detonating everywhere there were planted jewels was brilliant. The Doctor wanting to save her life and maintain it in digital form so Omara could see all she had saved was lovely and the emotion of her not wanting to be saved along with River's comments about living as a digital was excellent. That must have been tough for the Doctor. Overall, an excellent adventure! 

Rating: 9/10