Carnival of Angels

"I saw myself die."

Writer: Roy Gill

Format: Audio

Released: January 2020

Series: Diary of River Song 7.04

Featuring: River

Synopsis

New York. 1930s. Melody Malone 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. But with Angels in waiting, Heaven may not be the best choice...

Verdict

Carnival of Angels was an excellent story to conclude the seventh series of The Diary of River Song! I've enjoyed this volume with it firmly being focused on River and what she gets up to when the Doctor's not around, so having a prequel to The Angels Take Manhattan with River already in New York amidst a swarm of Weeping Angels prior to the arrival of the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory was a magnificent idea. It served as a fine finale and it was a lot of fun to have her as a private investigator in New York. Marty Stone arriving to her with a special case requiring investigating was excellent as what he described was pretty awful! Marty actually saw himself die which was easily explained by the presence of Weeping Angels, but just imagining dealing with that was tremendous. Such a striking image! The coin containing Heaven and Hell on alternating sides was very good and I loved the description of Angel wings adorning it. River unsurprisingly took the case and having her accompanied by Luke as her assistant was a nice throwback to Animal Instinct where he helped her with the Decaying Master. His quest for information on the coins was really well done and I liked how River was on hand detecting the issues and interference in Time. That did well for explaining the disturbances that would be mentioned in the aforementioned televised episode to come. Her insistence on staying with Marty to try and prevent him from being touched by an Angel was really good and their relationship was pretty quirky. Some of the American accents in the episode were amusingly questionable! I thought Miss Quirke made for a tremendous villain and her owning the Carnival of the Charmed and Strange put her in a prominent position. River wanting the chance of getting to Heaven on the carnival ride was terrific but things took a dark turn when Marty was being hunted by an Angel in the mirror board. River trying to create a paradox to save him amidst the time disturbance was exciting, but his fate was inevitable as he didn't keep his eye on the Weeping Angel. The fact he was only sent on a short hop as more of an Angel snack than full feed seemed good, but River knew that meant a much more powerful Angel was in New York if it was controlling a number of weaker ones. The Trip to Heaven ride acting as a source of food for the larger Angel was really good and fitted in well with the carnival theme. If you got to Heaven, you didn't come back. So of course River wanted a ride! The suggestion of the Liberty Angel being in control was brilliant and I also thought it was good continuity for Luke to still be fighting the mutation. His taking things upon himself despite the Angel threat was admirable. Quirke being in telepathic contact with the Angel was a nice way to incorporate them into audio and I was intrigued by her desire to use the Angels as a time taxi and go back in time. Her plan to turn off the power and plunge the carnival into darkness for an Angel feast was magnificent, but the Angel was unhappy with the numbers harvested and she was brutally killed. The lightning strike on the sand fusing the crystals and keep the Angel staring at itself was a unique resolution, and I loved the temporary nature of the trap given the Doctor's impending arrival. Overall, a terrific episode to conclude a strong series! 

Rating: 9/10