The Boundless Sea

"Timing never was my strong point."

Writer: Jenny T Colgan

Format: Audio

Released: December 2015

Series: The Diary of River Song 1.01

Featuring: River

Synopsis 

River Song has has more than enough excitement for a while. Deciding the universe - and her husband - can look after themselves, she has immersed herself in early 20th century academia, absorbed in writing archaeological theses.

But when a mysterious tomb is found in a dry, distant land, excitement comes looking for River. 

Can Professor Song stop any more members of the expedition from dying? What deadly secrets lie buried within the crypt? And will British Consul Bertie Potts prove to be a help, or a hindrance?

Verdict 

The Boundless Sea kicked off the debut series of The Diary of River Song in brilliant fashion! It was a quite brilliant opening audio adventure which really pleased me and after just one adventure I have no doubts that River can hold her own for her own spinoff series. She more than deserves it because the character has so much depth but also because there's an incredible amount of room to play with. Every time we saw River on television, mostly with the Eleventh Doctor, she had been up to something that we had no idea about and that was perfectly highlighted this past Christmas with The Husbands of River Song where we saw River acting as if she wasn't around the Doctor. She wasn't to know she was but we saw how she did go about things when her husband wasn't around, and those gaps continue to be filled with this audio series. I started listening to this just a matter of days after a second series was confirmed so I'm sure the next three adventures will be just as good as this! At least, I hope so. I have every confidence that they will be because Alex Kingston is fantastic and that's exactly what she was here. She plays the role of River so well and it was wonderful to hear her again here in a brand new adventure. Her adventure. She did reference the Doctor magnificently well but other than that, which in itself was subtle, you would not be mistaken for thinking this wasn't Doctor Who. Now that's a good thing when it comes to a spinoff because it proves that you don't need the Doctor to make a great Doctor Who story. Of course it still is Doctor Who but the focus is all about River Song. I like how she was just getting up to her own business studying in the early twentieth century and she actually didn't seem to have any interest in the archaeological finding until someone was reported to have gone missing and possibly dead. She reacted just like the Doctor and after all her travels with him, he's certainly rubbed off some of his attributes on her. The majority setting of inside the tomb was excellent and really did provide an eerily great atmosphere. River seemed at home which I thought was good and I liked the humour she had on her travels there with Bertie. I must admit, I did not see the double cross with him coming which is something I must credit the writer for but I am certainly glad that the series as a whole is going to be interconnected. I think that's the way to go with boxsets like this consisting of four adventures centred around the same character. Prim served as a good enemy and her story was very emotional and River could actually relate to the suffering she had thanks to what Kovarian and the Silence did to her throughout Series 6, and Prim suffered in similar ways. Speaking of suffering, I thought Daphne and later Archie went through quite a bit of it inside the tomb as they were subjected to the saline drones. The concept of them attaching themselves and draining any supply of water was really intriguing and tied in with the title of the adventure really nicely. I also loved how the umbrella title was adhered to as well with River narrating briefly in some parts of the story, particularly at its beginning and end, to illustrate the fact it was from a diary. I really liked that. The plot was really good and I loved how it was all a setup to test River. Who or what is testing River I'm not quite sure but I am looking very forward to finding out. I imagine they'll be pretty powerful! The ending was quite emotional and action packed and it didn't end well for Prim, but River had no other choice. She was playing the game and for now her only objective was to survive. An invitation had been given to her from Bertie before his demise and that takes us nicely into the second story which I now anticipate greatly. Overall, a brilliant beginning and I'm hoping for more of the same! 

Rating: 9/10