New Recruit: Never Alone

"What are you doing in my dream?"

Writer: Helen Godwyn

Format: Audio

Released: October 2021

Series: The Diary of River Song 9.03

Featuring: River, Liz

Synopsis

River believes Intertraxia is ahead of its time, but it's already shipping innovations in entertainment and computing around the world.

When a dead man is found with alien technology implants, UNIT investigates. Liz and River are about to discover that those connected to the network are never alone...

Verdict

Never Alone was another good episode to continue my way through the New Recruit ninth series of The Diary of River Song! I thought this was another solid outing for River and Liz who have become a terrific little pairing and it's nice to hear them getting on, although I must admit I think the placement of this series is a little off as this definitely should have been swapped with Terror of the Suburbs in my opinion. I mentioned that in my blog entry yesterday and I couldn't help but think it as I was listening here. It would have flowed better, but I did try to think of the episode in isolation and it was still a very enjoyable listen as my rating reflects! I thought the Intertraxia technology company was a good front for taking the minds of promising students, and hearing in the early 1970s how there were prototypes set for global scale that were basically early versions of a portable music player and phone was quite amazing! River knew they were far beyond their time and it is just great having her around with all of her foreknowledge. I thought Pippa was an annoyingly fun character as my goodness didn't she just talk and talk! She was oblivious to some small mockery by River which was harmless and I am honestly astounded after listening to find that she was not voiced by Mina Amwar! I am honestly stunned. The first image that popped into my head when I heard her talking was of Gita in The Sarah Jane Adventures! The likeness was honestly uncanny. Her relationship with Marco was intriguing stuff and I thought it was quite fun for her to proclaim that he was her boyfriend, he just didn't know it yet. River's reaction to that said everything really! I thought the demeanour of Marco was a little strange as he was part of the Higher Power and the focus on technology there was almost reminding me of the Cybermen! I also suspected the Wire was present at some point too which wouldn't be a huge stretch given the setting's proximity to The Idiot's Lantern. Alas, the Higher Power was just that and I was almost disappointed that Professor Allen was working with it. It was just so predictable as it basically followed the same pattern of the previous episode which was a bit of a shame. I thought the death of Ian was a good threat to include in the episode with six others missing from the university, but Marco being another and just working for Intertraxia felt odd. I liked that it was explained Ian resisted the technological fusion we heard Pippa become subjected to, and the after effects of that were quite fun. The invasion of dreams and thinking and conversing via inner thoughts was interesting stuff and River's slow reaction and realising why she had invaded Marco's dream was excellent. It was almost like they were all tripping! So of course it was left to somebody sensible like Liz to set things right from the outside and the brief moment where it was feared River was too far in was a nice bit of trepidation at the end of the episode. She would be too much for the Higher Power to handle in the end. I must admit I wasn't all that fussed by the voicing for the Higher Power as it just felt a bit generic and that overbearing and loud booming type is something I've heard before and almost never enjoyed. It's just not threatening for me. I thought River's comment at the end about not wanting to live her afterlife in a computer was a little sad given her fate in Forest of the Dead, but that's the beauty of these audios and jumping around the timelines. Overall, a good story! Now onto the finale which I cannot wait for.

Rating: 7/10