Abbey of Heretics

"The unknown does tend to be frightening."

Writer: Lizbeth Myles

Format: Audio

Released: January 2020

Series: Diary of River Song 7.02

Featuring: River

Synopsis

Outside the walls of a remote 12th Century Abbey, England is at war. 

Inside, a strange sickness runs rife, and there are rumours of a devil in the woods. Death stalks the novices. When Sister Melody arrives in search of a book, she may be their only salvation.

Verdict

Abbey of Heretics was another decent episode to continue the seventh series of The Diary of River Song! I was excited about the setting of this one and with the CD artwork being incredibly striking, the prospect of River Song impersonating a nun had a lot of potential! Whilst I don't think I was necessarily let down by that aspect of the story, I do think there was a little more fun and cheekiness to be had with her in that role. However, it did mean we got a slightly more serious River which is not always the case and I couldn't help but enjoy her frustrations at the devotion of the sisters to God. Whenever a threat was coming, they just prayed and believed it all to be God's plan which was just silly. I don't try and hide my Atheism and distain of organised religion, so anything that makes humour of it is something I appreciate with science most definitely winning this race. It was amusing for River to take on the moniker of Sister Melody and that just had a really nice ring to it. Her interest in The Book of Stars was intriguing and I liked how it was an old and mysterious book, even by the twelfth century. Her description of the artwork as showing two different constellations and them meeting in the middle was poetic and something I admired. The threat of the nuns coming down with a disease was good and provided the threat, with some of the guest cast certainly impressing. Ursula as the library curator was a fun character and her reaction when River tried to touch a rare book was fantastic. Sister Magdalene was an older nun and after welcoming River to the Abbey, Sister Patrick wasn't interested in her interference. The way she was questioned on her medical knowledge and the uses of cinnamon in particular was a lot of fun. I thought the line about books not being able to kill people but their words being able to was outstanding. The arrival of a spacey monk was a little bland with it seeking assistance, and I'm not sure we needed another extraterrestrial threat. Keeping it as purely historical as possible would have been in its favour in my book. Thomas Aspley's arrival was good and I liked the dynamic of Patrick assisting him. The story of the Mother Abbess dying just before everyone got sick was obviously no coincidence, and I thought the suggestion of suicide having serious implications at this religious point of time was a great use of the setting. Her bones were smashed, but she could have been pushed. The user interface needing assistance being referred to as an apparition was neat and its clutch on Patrick was quite disturbing at times. Ursula not being who she seemed was a nice twist and the suggestion of her creating The Book of Stars was a big surprise. The scanning of the entire Abbey was decent and I quite enjoyed the effort of weaving the membrane which was causing the radiation sickness in the sisters. Her only having one way home worked well and the Abbess being her last surviving colleague was a strong explanation. The idea of The Book of Stars being their story was good and their way was to blend in, so much so that they had seemingly developed faith. Magdalene burning the books was an unexpected conclusion as she and Patrick didn't survive, and neither had the books. River performing her angelic disappearance at the end was nicely done. Overall, a decent listen! 

Rating: 7/10