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merryghoulWhat's said to be the last ever DORS ends (fittingly, given the title of the release) with four stories centered around loss (specifically River losing her parents; her mother is mentioned often in the audio). River travels to a pub in the 18th century, promises to keep Jackie Tyler company during a wellness retreat, has to find an artifact after a war, and, uh...the last bit features several realities and some returning things.
The first episode, "The Excise Men," finds River helping people in a seaside pub on the Cornish coast in the 18th century against the titular "men." There is a reason why these men are there though, and it's most likely the fault of the people in this pub. Something never clicked with me when I first listened to the story and for me it's the weakest story of the four. It's not a terrible story, though.
"Harvest of the Krotons" finds River and Jackie, both after they've lost loved ones (River, her parents; Jackie, Rose) investigating a health spa. It's run by the Krotons. Things predictably go awry. This was my favorite episode of this series, as I felt it conveyed the theme of loss most efficiently in its story.
Set after the Earth has been ravaged, "Dead Men Talking" starts with River coming in from the cold to the home of a woman who has lost her child to war. The artifact this woman owns is dangerous. River wants to take this artifact, but the woman, as well as a "medium" lying to her, are keeping River from taking the artifact. Despite the bleakness of this story (straightforwardly as well as subtextually), I felt that this was also a strong story. The documentary for this episode is notable for having Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler)...but no, she's not theere to talk about the previous episode. She talks with Alex Kingston talking about friendly ghosts!
"The Wife of River Song" finds River existing in two realities: one where she's seeking out a building known as the Hive while the other reality has her happily married to a woman who doesn't like that she does archeology expeditions. These two Rivers shouldn't exist at the same time, and yet. River gets some help from Brooke, the "sibling" she encountered in DORS 3, and other elements from Doctor Who (the TV series [or really one of its spin-offs] as well as Big Finish) appear. Whereas River's final appearances on Doctor Who TV were bittersweet, in part because people knew about her fate in Series 4, River's final fate here is more of a hopeful one and one that isn't tied to her relationship with the Doctor. I'm sure people may not like what happens to River's wife and they may compare River's wife's fate to a similar episode of Torchwood and/or grumble about the tropes that appear here in comparison to the last installment of DORS. I feel this episode does bring a bit of clarity to River and her non-Doctor relationship history that was only merely alluded to in TV canon and originally clarified (and not acted upon in canon) by Steven Moffat when he first had a Twitter account (when we called Twitter "Twitter"). And I also feel that healthy bonds with people, no matter what the relationship between people is, are much better than ones with unhealthy romantic partner dynamics.
With this being the last series of DORS episodes, there was no other way to go but to focus on family and loss rather than sticking to TV canon and set up for River's canonical death and afterlife. And especially with the end of "The Wife of River Song," DORS went out not in the saddest of ways, but with an ending full of hope true to the spirit of Doctor Who.
The first episode, "The Excise Men," finds River helping people in a seaside pub on the Cornish coast in the 18th century against the titular "men." There is a reason why these men are there though, and it's most likely the fault of the people in this pub. Something never clicked with me when I first listened to the story and for me it's the weakest story of the four. It's not a terrible story, though.
"Harvest of the Krotons" finds River and Jackie, both after they've lost loved ones (River, her parents; Jackie, Rose) investigating a health spa. It's run by the Krotons. Things predictably go awry. This was my favorite episode of this series, as I felt it conveyed the theme of loss most efficiently in its story.
Set after the Earth has been ravaged, "Dead Men Talking" starts with River coming in from the cold to the home of a woman who has lost her child to war. The artifact this woman owns is dangerous. River wants to take this artifact, but the woman, as well as a "medium" lying to her, are keeping River from taking the artifact. Despite the bleakness of this story (straightforwardly as well as subtextually), I felt that this was also a strong story. The documentary for this episode is notable for having Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler)...but no, she's not theere to talk about the previous episode. She talks with Alex Kingston talking about friendly ghosts!
"The Wife of River Song" finds River existing in two realities: one where she's seeking out a building known as the Hive while the other reality has her happily married to a woman who doesn't like that she does archeology expeditions. These two Rivers shouldn't exist at the same time, and yet. River gets some help from Brooke, the "sibling" she encountered in DORS 3, and other elements from Doctor Who (the TV series [or really one of its spin-offs] as well as Big Finish) appear. Whereas River's final appearances on Doctor Who TV were bittersweet, in part because people knew about her fate in Series 4, River's final fate here is more of a hopeful one and one that isn't tied to her relationship with the Doctor. I'm sure people may not like what happens to River's wife and they may compare River's wife's fate to a similar episode of Torchwood and/or grumble about the tropes that appear here in comparison to the last installment of DORS. I feel this episode does bring a bit of clarity to River and her non-Doctor relationship history that was only merely alluded to in TV canon and originally clarified (and not acted upon in canon) by Steven Moffat when he first had a Twitter account (when we called Twitter "Twitter"). And I also feel that healthy bonds with people, no matter what the relationship between people is, are much better than ones with unhealthy romantic partner dynamics.
With this being the last series of DORS episodes, there was no other way to go but to focus on family and loss rather than sticking to TV canon and set up for River's canonical death and afterlife. And especially with the end of "The Wife of River Song," DORS went out not in the saddest of ways, but with an ending full of hope true to the spirit of Doctor Who.
