The Diary Of River Song - The Boundless Sea

Starring Alex Kingston & Alexander Vlahos.

Written by Jenny T Colgan & Directed by Ken Bentley.

River Song has had more than enough excitement for a while. Deciding the universe – and her husband – can look after themselves, she has immersed herself in early 20th century academia, absorbed in writing archaeological theses.

But when a mysterious tomb is found in a dry, distant land, excitement comes looking for River.

Can Professor Song stop any more members of the expedition from dying? What deadly secrets lie buried within the crypt? And will British Consul Bertie Potts prove to be a help, or a hindrance?

River Song, as a character, is one that polarises the fan base. To some, she's an excellent character, who enlivened the early Moffat era with her sass and complex arc. And, to others, she's a bug-bear: an irritant with virtually no personality beyond the few clichés that Moffat had thrown together, and an over-complicated arc with no real structure to it. To be honest, I feel in between the two camps: to start with, Moffat presented us with this intriguing character, who presented a mystery for both the Doctor and the audience to solve, and the handful of appearances she made during series 4 and 5 set her up as an interesting character, with a mystery that teased and tantalised, but never took away from her characterisation, or the individual story's being told. However, after series 6, something changed: River was starting to loose the interesting character that she had previously, stories were starting to revolve around her and her relationship to the Doctor, and we were starting to get answers to her backstory that felt unsatisfactory, and disconnected from what went before. When she returned in series 7, her character had lost a lot of what made her interesting in the first place, and it was only her limited role in Name Of The Doctor that started to endear me to the character again. It was clear she'd split the fan base in two: when she was announced to return in The Husbands Of River Song (a return which was similarly underwhelming), there were many who really weren't happy about it. As was the case when Big Finish announced their intention to give River her own spin-off, The Diary Of River Song. However, there was some mollification from some (including myself) by this announcement: one, because Paul McGann would be guest starring as the eighth Doctor, and second, because Big Finish have been good at, in the past, redeeming characters who suffered poor or inconsistent characterisation on the TV series (pretty much every 80's companion bar Ace and Turlough, the sixth Doctor, Strax etc.), and I was hopeful that Big Finish would do the same for River. And, while it's not quite the blazing start that I was hoping for, and does suffer from a few issues, this first story is an ok start to River's audio adventures.

The basic plot of The Boundless Sea involves River investigating a mysterious disappearance in a African tomb in the 1920's. Now, I know immediately what you will be saying: isn't this pretty much like an episode of Doctor Who? And you'd be right, as there's little to distinguish this from any old pseudo-historical Who story. Sure, River's in the 'Doctor' role, so it's an interesting chance to see what it would be like if the Doctor was female and a lot more heartless. However, and I have to be the one to point this out, this is meant to be a spin-off from Doctor Who. So, in the first episode of any spin-off, you'd expect to see how this series is divorced from the parent show. Torchwood did this, as did The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Dalek Empire, and Jago & Litefoot. This, however, feels like Doctor Who with a part of the formula changed, and it just doesn't feel unique enough. The Boundless Sea just doesn't set itself apart from the standard fare of Big Finish Doctor Who, and that's a real problem. There's nothing here that's new or interesting, and I think that weighs this story down. Because of this, I don't think the episode can establish a set tone for the series. Some parts are really melancholic: beautifully written by Jenny Colgan, while others seem to be setting the tone that this is going to be an old-school B-Movie, with a dorky premise with lashings of self-referential humour. This is one major problem I have with The Boundless Sea: it's a story that is full of tonal shifts and inconsistencies that just leave the story jarring all over the place. One minute it's broad comedy, the next, River is gushing about how awful life is, the next Colgan is trying to make a poor joke about sexism in the early 20th century. And these shifts sometimes aren't between scenes, sometimes they're DURING scenes. The whole thing feels rather slapdash in it's approach, and it isn't as cohesive as the cast and production would have you believe. The basic nature of the plot also means that it never manages to excite the audience, or interest them as much as you would hope. It all feels a bit 'same-y', and never really musters anything in me beyond a causal shrug. However, as part of a box set, this, of course, feeds into the overarching plot for the set, and, I have to admit that, for the most part, it's quite poorly handled. A lot of the material just feels added in at last minute in order to justify the story's existence, explain away some plot points Colgan couldn't be bothered to tie up in a more creative way and set up the next story. It may be that they want to give this story a stronger reason for being, but unfortunately, it just turns out to be exactly the opposite. It just feels like the whole thing is only being made a part of the overall story in a conciliatory sense. I will say one thing for The Boundless Sea, though: it doesn't force it's foreshadowing upon the listener. If this were a New Who episode, it would be rammed down our throats as 'the most important thing ever'. Here, however, it's justly subtly done enough so as not to raise too many eyebrows. When it comes, it's certainly noticeable, but it's clear that Big Finish didn't want it to be the be all and end all of the story, which is a positive. If only the plot itself was slightly more interesting.

The characters in The Boundless Sea weren't great either, and were, in all honesty, mediocre at best. The most notable is, of course, River Song. Now, at the top of this review, I mentioned Big Finish having to 'redeem' River Song. And I certainly believe that they have taken steps towards that aim. I can't honestly say they've completely succeeded, because some of River's more controversial elements are still present throughout the story. I like the way Big Finish have heighted her aloofness. Now, I've seen quite a few reviewers use this as a negative, but I like the way Big Finish have attempted to show that, ultimately, River is a lonely character. Her monologues are great, really beautifully written, and I like the fact that, out of everyone in the story, River connects with the 'monster' in the story. It's a nice touch, that just subtly pushes the idea that the River we're now dealing with is a bit more disconnected from the world. However, with the more flirty part of River's character absent, Colgan pushes the feminist icon angle River is known for a little too far. A lot of her anti-men jibs just jar horribly with the material. Sure, River is a female academic in the 1920's, and looking at the attitudes towards women is an angle the story needed to take, especially in a female-lead series (I particularly like that Bertie was mistaken for River, as it's the natural angle to take). However, I just felt that most of River's other insults just felt flat, and were meant as a 'pro-woman' rhetoric that Moffat (definitely the pot calling the kettle black) often writes. I have no objection to examining these concepts, of course not. But they just feel so pointed and aggressive, and totally unnecessary to the story at hand, that I was wondering what was the point of them? Overall, however, River's character was an improvement over the latter half of her time on the TV series, and that was aided, of course, by Alex Kingston. This is the first time that she has played River on audio, and, while there were a few instances where I felt that she was possibly overacting (mostly the more physical and shouty bits near the end), she made the transition into the audio medium perfectly. The scenes of River's monologues were beautifully delivered, and I could certainly see Alex had put a lot of effort in to make those work, something that might have fell flat with a lesser performer. The guest characters, however, we're slightly less interesting. The main one of note was Bertie Potts, played by Alexander Vlahos. Bertie starts the story as a bit of a wet fish: a typical PG Woodhouse-type, who'd bumble and joke his way through life. While potentially interesting, all of that was rendered useless by the fact that Bertie's only real purpose in the story is to communicate a message to River. By making him a McGuffin in the series plot, his character becomes little more than a device, rather than a standalone character in his own right. He's certainly well played by Confessions Of Dorian Gray star Alexander Vlahos, but I just feel like he could have gone a lot further, if Colgan hadn't intended him as a bit of misdirection. The rest of the guest characters also feel relatively lightweight as well, but that's fairly in keeping with a story of this ilk. Prim, brilliantly played by Gbemisola Ikumelo, is probably the most developed of the characters. She's actually quite interesting, as she has a really tragic backstory, and you certainly do feel some empathy for the character. However, I do feel that this is lessened a bit by the end, where she becomes a bit more of a typical villain who is simply seeking revenge. It's a shame, because in the first half, she is a really good character, who has a really interesting motivation. As for the rest of the cast, they are mostly clichés, but they're all fairly well-played by Charlotte Christie, Alisdiar Simpson, Oliver Dimsdale and John Banks. It's just a shame they can't be given something more to do in the story.

The production on this story is probably it's strongest aspect. Ken Bentley's direction is taught and strong, and I really liked the way that he just lets the actors do their thing. Sometimes, it's important to push the boat out, but here Ken just lets the actors do their thing. That's backed up by Steve Foxon's sound design, which peerlessly builds up each setting clearly in your mind's eye. The work of sound design is a sorely underappreciated one, and I feel that it's important to give it more exposure. The music from Howard Carter is as fantastic as always, as is his theme. It sets the tone perfectly, in fact better than this episode did. Part Bond, part Indiana Jones, it's a beautiful piece of work, and his music compliments that perfectly. Finally, Tom Webster's cover is a lovely looking piece of design, and really sets the story. They may only be little details, but I think it's important to mention them, especially when they are as well executed as they are here.

Overall, however, The Boundless Sea is a bit of a mixed bag. There's plenty here to like, however there's also quite a bit more not to. Mostly, I'd put this down to the writing, which seems to jump tones and moods like there's no tomorrow. While there are a few issue with River's character, and I didn't think the secondary cast were all that great, the major plot problems are this story's biggest weakness. It's a shame, because there is some merit in The Boundless Sea, it's just been ruined by some poor choices. Not Big Finish's best start to a spin-off, to be honest.

Rating - 6/10

Other Reviews of Big Finish Products:
Technophobia - COMING SOON
Time Reaver - COMING SOON
Death And The Queen - COMING SOON