Queen of the Mechonoids

"The moment of vengeance is at hand."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: January 2021

Series: Diary of River Song 8.03

Featuring: River Song, Anya, Mark Seven

Synopsis 

Sapce Security agents Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven answer a distress call – and find River Song, ruling a city of Mechonoids.

But another shock awaits beneath this planet's icy surface. The Mechonoids have been upgraded and are about to be unleashed upon the galaxy!

Verdict 

Queen of the Mechonoids was an excellent episode to conclude the eighth series of The Diary of River Song! After a somewhat shaky start, this turned into a really strong series and what a way to finish! I really liked the idea of River crashing on an ice planet and her distress call being picked up by the familiar characters of Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven of the SSS. They had quite the run alongside both the Fourth and Tenth Doctors, so it was nice to hear them alone and encountering River Song. Upon investigating the ship, Mark wasn’t so sure that the ship had actually crashed with the source of the signal actually coming from within in the city. The introduction of the Mechonoids was good and I loved the loose idea of River being their queen! She was welcomed into luxury after her arrival which was fun. It was never going to be as simple as just leaving with Anya and Seven, and that was evident when the Mercury core had been removed from the SSS ship. It seemed the Mechonoids didn’t want their Queen to leave! I really liked how Mark was constantly suspicious of River’s crashed ship story which made their relationship rather testy. The artificial tunnel below the city leading to River’s ship was far more than a coincidence and a good mystery to explore, whilst the action that was injected from crossing the ice bridge with the giant tentacled creature beneath was brilliant! The discovery of finding the diamond encrusted Mechonoid was terrific and the discovery of a half man within was quite the surprise. It turned out to be former Earth councillor Annam Henic who had been missing for 1,600 years and thought destroyed. It was certainly hoped he was destroyed as far as Anya was concerned! River wanting to bring him to justice after his crimes was a good direction for the story to take but he had the golden Mechonoids protecting their master! The story of how they’d saved him from certain death by putting him into a Mechonoid was fantastic. The golden Mechonoid image was tremendous too! I liked that River hadn’t revealed all information and she was actually tracking Henic all along with her archaeological routes shining through. Anya had cottoned onto that which was brilliant and showed her qualities. It was actually River that had built the tunnel but caused the ice sheet to collapse on her ship in an accident that led her to then sending out the distress call. It tied together nicely. River instructing the city Mechonoids for defence was very good and I loved the development of the golden ones being able to fly! With the traditional versions not able to shoot up, the numbers advantage was completely eradicated. The battle that ensued was exciting and I liked that Anya now had the mercury core intact from River’s ship with the battle then causing the ice sheet to collapse amidst the detonation countdown. It really was all going on! River trying to not leave with Henic in her clutches to ensure he served justice was admirable, but there was no other option than to leave him to his death. Or so we thought! River ending up with the idea of writing a book instead as she wouldn’t get a finder’s fee now was fun stuff, but the cliffhanger finish of Henic not actually being dead and with enough Mechonoid power for a millennium was a fun surprise. Might be back to torment River in the future? Overall, a fantastic conclusion to the series!

Rating: 9/10