Melody Pond is always meeting her husband in the wrong order, and navigating her timeline is often like Birmingham’s Spaghetti Junction.
But one thing is certain about this archaeologist - she’s always glamorous, campy, and just downright brilliant!
I’m genuinely surprised nobody had made a thread like this already - especially given how much @shauny adores this character - but we’re rectifying that today.
Feel free to share your thoughts, reviews, and appreciation for the one and only…
River Song!
This thread was inspired by the one @sircarolyn made for Bernice Summerfield.
I’ve listened up to season 8 of The Diary of River Song, and I think the standout for me has to be 5:29, I love this more small scale character focused story.
I adore River Song, she’s the reason I started listening to big finish stuff! I’ve listened to the first five box sets of diary of river song so far, and I have to agree that 5:29 is amazing. My favourite stories might be the ones with her and the ninth doctor though, they are so good
I love River. She’s one of the reasons I fell hard into BF after Lucie Miller, and I adore every episode of TV she’s in.
Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own likes and dislikes, but I feel that RIver haters refuse to engage with her character beyond what they think they see on screen (just like Amy haters or Clara haters, and I think it’s true for a lot of Moffat DW that you have to be willing to be down for the ride and try and understand what he’s trying to do, whether he succeeds or not) and so see her as some lovestruck quip machine. And I kind of get why they see that, but if you stop to think about some of the horrors and traumas River has been through… ugh she’s such a mess
Which is why some of my fav BF stuff is the stuff that digs deep into her past, into her childhood, into why she acts the way she does. Because yes, on the surface, she does seem kind of relentlessly optimistic and flirty, but a lot of that, I think, is to cover for how damaged she feels. Which is what she thinks the Doctor taught her…
Anyway. Which River episode is the best and why is it Husbands of River Song
Just the Doctor and River on a date - a glorious relationship moment
I love Alex Kingston, she is really what makes River work for me on screen. I haven’t heard much of her stuff on audio as I find her onscreen arc of meeting the Doctor in the wrong order so profound. I don’t really want to fill in those blanks Give her a million stories with the Eleventh Doctor and I am game - but to me I don’t really feel like experiencing stories where she encounters any other incarnation. And I would be a bit hesitant to look at her stories post-Library, she got a good, albeit weird, ending in her first story (how does that make sense outside Doctor Who) and I don’t want to mess with that.
But as I said I really like her onscreen, she had so many good stories
(And also Let’s Kill Hitler)
BillFiler is a proud member of the Professor Bernice “Benny” Surprise Summerfield is the superior Time Travelling Archeologist Society This message is in no way affiliated with The Braxiatel Collection, nor has any exchange of monetary units taken place to influence BillFiler. Benny is the original trowel wielding time traveller, accept no substitutes of a sonic trowel wielding kind. Also the only companion to be the lead singer in a punk rock band, try beating that Melody Pond.
RIVER: When one’s in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve year old, one does one’s best to hide the damage.
RIVER: Never let him see the damage. And never, ever let him see you age. He doesn’t like endings.
I agree she is very troubled (literally brought up to be an assassin, and then fell in love with her target, who is an ageless god and doesn’t really understand her), and very sad (has to spend most of her life locked away for committing the crime of killing her own husband, rarely seeing him, in the wrong order, fearing for the day he forgets her). That’s what I love about her most, the most tragic backstory. But she’s also so fun and flirty. Wonderful!
I know some people don’t like her meeting other incarnations of the Doctor, especially as they are all pretty asexual and she usually has to wipe their memory, but it’s the Big Finish dartboard in action and sometimes produces brilliance. The Star-Crossed box set was the greatest “River Song x Doctor” crossover I’ve heard and it was so effective!
And you can just tell with every single story that Alex is having the absolute best time of her life. May it never end!
That series is so interesting, because most of River’s stories are usually either fun romps or focused on the Doctor, but this series was focused on her backstory, which was fleshed out and she was given other siblings who were also experimented on!
Watching the TV show I never thought that maybe there were other “proto Time Lords” and it’s such an interesting concept, I wish it had been explored even more and perhaps done a little better, but I’m glad it exists.
Now that River is continuing post-Library, I hope they do something to carry on her story and give her new motivation other than pining over the Doctor forever. Alternatively, let’s have a whole box set of River and Thirteen
Ooh and I just thought how fun it would be to have River meet the Fugitive Doctor.
She wouldn’t need her mind wiped, because there is a big reset there anyway, so River could pair up with her and work for The Division for a box set or two. That would be a lot of fun!
Give her a million stories with the Eleventh Doctor and I am game - but to me I don’t really feel like experiencing stories where she encounters any other incarnation. And I would be a bit hesitant to look at her stories post-Library, she got a good, albeit weird, ending in her first story (how does that make sense outside Doctor Who) and I don’t want to mess with that.
