Two Rivers and a Firewall: Beauty on the Inside

"I can save your life or I can observe royal custom."

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: August 2022

Series: Diary of River Song 10.02

Featuring: River

Synopsis

It would seem to be a perfectly ordinary painting of a forgettable royal family – so why did a biochemist smuggle it out of a closed colony at the cost of her own life? River is determined to find out.

Verdict

Beauty on the Inside was an average episode to continue my way through the Two Rivers and a Firewall tenth series of The Diary of River Song! Might we be running out of steam with this series? I really wouldn't say so and I do hope this is just a blip because River is a character with bags of potential with or without the Doctor and I mean this wasn't bad, the episodes are just usually consistently better! This had a feeling of filler and it's a shame that there appears to be no overriding story arc for the series, especially with the awful umbrella title! There was some decent stuff floating around within the story but it just felt a bit clunky at times for me. I don't think the society was fully fleshed out and we were just thrown right into the mix which was unsettling for such a different setting. I like the idea of River being at an auction and it was terrific the way in which she fooled the buyers into thinking she was spending big only for the currency to be shifted in one letter that wasn't easy to tell by pronunciation, but they certainly knew about it when the money started literally turning ghostly and disappearing! That was a humorous moment. I thought the idea behind the Nubots (if that's how they're spelt!) was decent and the whole concept of nanobots on the inside was fascinating. I appreciated that this was a unique take on the nanobots, but I'm not sure it came across perfectly on audio. It was fascinating to think of reverse ageing at a cellular level and River looking older than royalty claiming to be hundreds of years old. That longevity was impressive, but I think it could have been slightly more clear on the class divide that I think was trying to be highlighted. The Tremaji became quite an emotional rollercoaster of a family with them basically being broken about and so far removed from what they once were. Were they even human anymore? That was interesting to explore on an emotional level without any hint of a Cyber influence there. This was a very different means of losing one's humanity. Lazari was an intriguing character and the whole prospect of a plague to put an end to the nubots was somewhat drastic! It felt old school in what seemed like a more futuristic setting. Fama though was the very definition of working class and I think the casting there was also impressive as the voice was just perfect for showcasing that level of society. It was well done, although I think fining out that she was actually the prince's mother was a little late in the day. It felt like a big shock and twist but there wasn't enough time left to fully dwell on it. It didn't have that big impact and I think some more action would have helped. The story felt very still which meant that kind of revelation was lacking in packing a big punch. The breaking down of the Prince was quite emotional and you could see that he had lost any semblance of reasoning for his actions. He had tried to stop things from the inside and manipulate the nanobots at the last stage of overriding in the hopes of reshaping the royal image, but things had gotten so far removed by this point. It was all just a bit of a collapse! That was certainly an emotional moment and the torment was there to see, but I think some more details and just depth on the setting and royalty could have improved this one a lot. Still, it wasn't bad it was just a bit slow for me. Overall, some good stuff but definitely one that I wish I enjoyed more.

Rating: 6/10