New Recruit: Terror of the Suburbs

"I hate this town."

Writer: James Kettle

Format: Audio

Released: October 2021

Series: The Diary of River Song 9.02

Featuring: River, Liz

Synopsis

Liz has moved house. It seems she's found a suburban utopia – until River Song arrives.

There is more to Fetter Bailey than manicured lawns and endless soirees. Dangerous creatures prowl the hedgerows, and something lurks in the freezers...

Verdict

Terror of the Suburbs was a decent episode to continue my way through the New Recruit ninth series of The Diary of River Song! This was an intriguing tale and I liked the dystopian feel of things as we jump into the suburban utopia type setting. This was all very Downsizing and WandaVision feeling which was good and that entire concept feels very 1970s. I wouldn't say this quite felt like a sitcom, but it was certainly close! And that's a good thing. I am a little bit confused regarding the placing of this episode as it doesn't feel right that so soon after joining the team on a temporary basis, Liz is taken somewhere where she was no memory of River. I would have liked some more reflection on The Blood Woods and take the pair into another dilemma to solve together. This was more a case of River saving Liz which was good, I just think it may have worked better in the next episode instead. Of course, there could be an underlying reason leading into the finale why that isn't the case and I hope that is the case. As you can see from the rating, this was no bad thing! I think the dynamic between River and Liz is excellent and you would struggle to find two companions of the Doctor's further apart on the spectrum. They're wildly different. Liz is almost posh whereas River just exudes and flaunts living vicariously. But it just absolutely works! River can tease Liz a little and we get to hear her open up. I thought it was good to explore the world of Fetter Bailey because it was far from what it seemed. Where did the petrol come to mow the grass? Why was everything perfect? No frozen aisles in the shop? River being on hand to help break the illusion was good and the pace in which that happened was nicely done. I thought the revelation that the suburb was actually in the Sahara was a tad odd and not entirely significant, and I'd love to know how they made it back to UNIT HQ in London! I thought some of the other inhabitants in the suburb were pretty annoying but I appreciated that because it was very much the intention. I must admit I'm not much of a people person so I couldn't deal with the friendliness and camaraderie that was on show. It just isn't me and I would get so annoyed. Maybe that's why my interest in the episode wained slightly as things went on and I think the reveal of the Presidium perhaps came a little late. I thought the concept behind them was a little predictable but it worked fine with them feeding on the very things their utopia created in its people. Lucy and Yvonne were fine and I think the way the Presidium revealed their plan could have had a tad more impact. For whatever reason they didn't seem all that threatening. I liked how River and Liz came together to help see them off, although I did have something of a feeling of incompleteness at the end. Things seemed to conclude very quickly and suddenly so it certainly had a big impact on me! I think more on how River came to be there would be good and a little more playing with Liz not remembering her would be terrific. I do feel that would have had more of an impact if they'd had more than one adventure together where Liz wasn't all that accommodating of the archaeologist! Regardless, this was still a fun little episode and I look forward to hearing what's next!  

Rating: 7/10