Stronger than the first series, but still some issues when it comes to making a satisfying finale.
A three-way spaceship crash causes reality to melt and reform; planet Earth is wiped out, time zone by time zone; Ol’ Sixie becomes a majority shareholder in a nefarious company; and River gets handcuffed in some MP’s house!
My reviews of the second series are now available to read.
Five Twenty-Nine is the only one of these I’ve heard (it was free from BF a while back), but goodness is it beautiful. Totally agree that it’s a 10/10–a stunning story and a really powerful metaphor for terminal illness.
Naturally, I’ve listened to the two Sixth Doctor audios. I went in expecting to be completely against them (I do not like River Song. At all.), but I came out really enjoying both. Canonical characterization was nonexistent for Six, and I still do not like how River conducts herself, but the stories were entertaining and gave me a lot to think about.
I kinda get why people wouldn’t like her. The biggest issue I have with her is that so much of her life revolves around the Doctor - I much prefer it when we get to see her doing her own thing (the first episode of Series 3 shows that perfectly).
To be honest, I had no idea where to place these stories in Ol’ Sixie’s timeline, except that they were closer to the end of his timeline.
Never thought of ‘Five Twenty-Nine’ like that honestly, but it makes a lot of snese now you mention it.
The main thing I thought of when listening to that story is the setup was similar to ‘Chase the Night’. Except that River is running away from 5:29pm… and the Fourth Doctor was on a giant train trying to flee from being burnt to a crisp!
My main thing is that she forces herself on the Doctor even when he says no. She’ll do anything to get a kiss from him, flirting overtly and saying sexual things even when he’s audibly repulsed and wants her to stop. Then, at the end of these stories, she essentially drugs them and knocks them out once she’s got her way (or not, in Seven’s case). The fact that the writers have to drastically change the Doctors’ characterizations just to have them fit into the “everyone eventually has to be fascinated with River” archetype just shows that something’s not right.
I don’t know why her behavior is considered endearing amongst the fandom.
This was the first and, to date, only River set that I’ve listened to. Not that should be considered a criticism because I really enjoyed the set. It’s just that I rarely focus on the spin-off series.
I listened to it a few years back and so my memories of it are pretty hazy. The one that really stood out was ‘Five Twenty-Nine’ - just superb.
The other three stories I really don’t remember at all and @PalindromeRose ’s reviews, though excellent, only brought back the vaguest of memories! I do remember the end of the final story though and I was under the impression that the Sixth Doctor got more than just a kiss from River…
I feel like I need to give this a re-listen and maybe check out a few other River sets as well.
