Friend of the Family: The Isle on the Shore

"I will haunt you for years to come."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: January 2023

Series: Diary of River Song 11.04

Featuring: River

Synopsis

River Song decides to investigate a temporal anomaly after a Luna University expedition makes some odd discoveries in an old Earth house – pages of her own diary with an inscrutable riddle written across them.

However, her investigation goes badly wrong when she is transported back into the past of the house and gets trapped within its grounds.

The house is the home of the Mortimers and with a limited ability to travel back and forth in time across eighty years and multiple generations she finds herself witnessing key moments in their family history.

If she wants to escape, the words in her diary are not the only riddle she has to solve. But not everyone in the house will survive what's coming. And not everyone is on her side.

Verdict

The Isle on the Shore was an excellent episode to conclude the Friend of the Family eleventh series of The Diary of River Song! I thought this rounded out what was a very strong story across the boxset that has seem River go on quite an emotional journey as she got to know numerous generations of the Mortimer family in their Hideaway residence. It really has been quite the adventure for River stretching from 1936-2014 and bringing both bookends of her time travelling ability here together in the form of Maddie Mortimer was really quite nice. To follow on from the cliffhanger finish of The Bird from the Nest, I was pretty shocked that Maddie threw herself in front of River when she was shot at by Henry. He was devastated and disappointed in himself for what had happened but River had little sympathy despite his PTSD from the First World War. She was slightly understanding that he was suffering and needed help but she absolutely did not accept it as an excuse. She demanded that he get the help he needed immediately and with her attitude towards him, I was surprised River was so willing to have Henry not tell anybody about what had happened. She knew that this was the end for Maddie and Henry would have to live with that which I guess is punishment enough, but she also needed him to ensure that history fell on the right track. I liked how she basically set up her own past from the past with instructions for Henry on what she had already lived through. The entire series basically becoming a bootstrap paradox is a fun little quirk but it does feel like a little bit like cheating in giving an answer regarding the trap River found herself within. Injecting more mystery into the Cook was intriguing and I like the idea of her syncing up with Hugo to become a more fuller version of a different programme. She's not quite Hugo, but she is at the same time and that's really fascinating to hear her fulfilling her life at the Mortimer residence. It's a long old journey she's gone through and it seems like she's sticking around as custodian for the family. I think that's a nice touch. I thought the focus on Harry and Vinay was marvellous and they're a really nice couple. It feels right to conclude with them tying the knot and River being the one to officiate the wedding is glorious. I like how she has the power vested in her from the President of Earth and alluding to her own marital ceremony being rushed was a nice nod to The Wedding of River Song. Carla's interactions with River were great and it was fantastic that she was basically jealous. Thomas didn't exactly help himself in saying that he loved her, but he was keen to make sure she knew it wasn't in the same way he loved her. She had saved his life after all! I thought the connection there was strong. I loved the humour that came from River interrupting another proposal but it was nice to know that she declined in a way that was understood and expected. She was pregnant though and the way Carla revealed that regarding the little person inside her was touching. A special moment. River being the one for George to come clean about Remy was really good stuff and I loved that she also discussed openly with Maddie about her own sexual orientation. River using the echo gun to preserve Maddie for one final day of life at her descendant's wedding and a gay one at that was really nice and it was powerful stuff that she got one final day with her babies. I'm not sure how I'd react if I knew my death was imminent, so I respected how well she dealt with it. River ensuring that everything would go as planned was very good even if the Mortimer legacy was a bit of a mess now! But she'd solved the family riddle so that was something. It was nice of her to catch up once all was set and done in an epilogue kind of moment that felt needed. Overall, a brilliant finale to a really strong series! 

Rating: 9/10