Star-Crossed: Archipelago

"We're sailing towards islands that no longer exist."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio 

Released: May 2024

Series: Ninth Doctor Adventures 12.03

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, River

Synopsis

River Song has one last request. If the Doctor undertakes a dangerous journey with her on the planet Fortuna, she'll never bother him again. But this is no ordinary voyage. 

As the storms batter their tiny vessel, the travellers are confronted with some brutal home truths. There is a captain in search of a husband. There is a ship in need of a light. And there are lovers lost in the maelstrom who will always be islands apart. 

Verdict

Archipelago was an outstanding episode to conclude the Star-Crossed twelfth volume of Ninth Doctor Adventures!  After two meetings of the Ninth Doctor and River Song, something that ought not to have been possible, this was a fantastic and highly emotional finale to their time together. It’s nice that despite everything we know about this incarnation as a battle hardened Doctor especially pre-Rose, River got to see the Doctor she knew and loved. The story itself before we got to the emotional stuff was really intriguing and there was no messing around in pairing up the Doctor and Rived, as should be the case for this third encounter. The novelty had worn off. The mission that River had enlisted the Doctor for regarding Thaddeus Grey and his signal was interesting, but he wasn’t having any of it. He could see the time storm that his husband was trapped within and didn’t fancy the voyage. This Doctor took things as they were and could see the dangers of the storm. He knew that Harvey wouldn’t be alive so his reaction when he found out just how long it had been since Grey took on a voyage was amusing. River was a little guilty but she saw the good and hope of the situation despite the signal having been broadcasting for twelve years. There really wasn’t much hope at all! I enjoyed the concept of temporary time very much and with how many different incarnations of the Doctor that River has now met, it’s become a little cliche for the memory wipe to happen to keep that first meeting in Silence in the Library intact. Once Grey was eliminated from the story due to the storm, the effects and threat of the coral oncoming were intriguing. It was a slow killer and River being knocked out for a while allowed the Doctor a chance to see into his future. The idea of him reading River’s diary of spoilers is also blasphemous and her reaction was one of genuine shock and horror. It was so fun to hear the Doctor comment on him not understanding the whole wedding of The Wedding of River Song extract along with lovely mentions of the Silence and the Weeping Angels. The Doctor and River really do go through a lot together and now the Doctor knew it all. He’d had a sneaky peek when he really shouldn’t have. Whilst I did think this episode was sensational because of the emotional pull, I do think there’s a blaring continuity error. The Doctor seeing the Daleks mentioned and not making a big deal of it considering this was before Dalek felt a bit off. River touching upon the Time War and almost using it against the Doctor in not wanting him to use it as an excuse for his personality and traits was powerful stuff, as was this Doctor’s brutal honesty. He couldn’t love. He wouldn’t. Not in this incarnation. But once the resolution was found and it would have to involve them completely forgetting everything about each other and their meetings over this series, some semblance of love was found. They shared details they never had or would and that brought them closer. Closer than ever before. It was a lovely line from the Doctor that despite this being the most romantic he’d ever been according to River, he would do this and have a whole future to challenge that. He could see that he would marry her and love her, and that’s rather nice. Overall, a tremendous finale!

Rating: 10/10