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merryghoul(Part of “the weekly 50 weeks of posts posts.” Post #3.)
The second installment of The Death and Life of River Song goes back to before River's death (and per Big Finish, is set before Ace and Tegan interact in The Power of the Doctor*). The titular Ace McShane and Tegan Jovanka end up companions (for lack of a better word) of River Song as River Song is tracking a scientist over various periods of time.
(Note: My rundown is a bit more detailed than Big Finish’s but may be somewhat spoilery)
"Castaways" by James Moran (Moran also wrote the last story in this collection, "The End is the Beginning is the End") starts with River stealing a space yacht (and wondering how said yacht would uplift a struggling country). The space yacht does have a purpose but it's not immediately revealed, of course. The story then goes to a 1850s London where Crystal Palace railway station is being built. River finds an older Ace and an older Tegan separately. Both can recall details of traveling with their specific Doctors but their memories are otherwise lost. River has to get Ace, Tegan, and some blueprints out of London that may not actually be the real London of the past.
"Driftwood" and "Dead Rising" are audios that have a similar feel, both written by Roland Moore. "Driftwood" is set after Ace has started traveling with Seven. Ace ends up on a spaceship that will self-destruct in about an hour. The captain of this ship believes Ace is sabotaging the ship. Her only source of help? A River that's still toting around her blaster and threatening to blow heads off, much to Ace's chagrin. "Dead Rising," in comparison, is set some time after Tegan is traveling with Five and Turlough. The three land on a colony and Five and Turlough are frozen. Tegan is questioned and disbelieved by the leader of this colony and ends up imprisoned (more or less) in said colony. Her only source of help: River, now carrying her sonic trowel and not threatening to blow heads off. It's a very subtle way of showing while the audio takes place in linear time for River (River is carrying her blaster in "Castaways"), River ends up meeting Ace and Tegan at various nonlinear points in their timelines.
"The End..." is set after River rescues Ace and Tegan. All of them are not safe, as a threat persistent throughout the audio needs to be neutralized.
[…] Ace and Tegan continues the trend of politically left-leaning commentary sneakily being woven in River Song audios (the latter Diary ofs and now The Death and Life ofs). I found the start of the story confusing; to be fair, part of my confusion is on my part since I'm not a regular listener of the main Doctor Who ranges and it's been like, a decade since I worked my way through downloads and Dailymotion videos of the classic series. (I say that because now you can go to a site like Tubi and watch a channel dedicated to the classic episodes and watch most of them on demand for free.) I also stopping watching the Thirteenth Doctor's run well before her last episode (I assure you it has nothing to do with Jodie Whittaker and everything with the writing). But enough about me. Once I was able to figure out what was going on in the audio, I was able to follow its delightful story. While the story stays true to Doctor Who ideology (namely the idea that the Doctors don't kill and a lot of his companions follow this idea), it does show how a person can change their mind over time. I really like a certain minor character that confronts River in "The End..." (I can't explain a lot, as the details are, well, spoilery.) It's an improvement on the last series for me and it opens up at the least a door into fanfic adventures [and the most Big Finish adventures] between Ace and Tegan.
*[...] Ace and Tegan doesn't reference any events from The Power of the Doctor and can be listened to without watching that episode.
The second installment of The Death and Life of River Song goes back to before River's death (and per Big Finish, is set before Ace and Tegan interact in The Power of the Doctor*). The titular Ace McShane and Tegan Jovanka end up companions (for lack of a better word) of River Song as River Song is tracking a scientist over various periods of time.
(Note: My rundown is a bit more detailed than Big Finish’s but may be somewhat spoilery)
"Castaways" by James Moran (Moran also wrote the last story in this collection, "The End is the Beginning is the End") starts with River stealing a space yacht (and wondering how said yacht would uplift a struggling country). The space yacht does have a purpose but it's not immediately revealed, of course. The story then goes to a 1850s London where Crystal Palace railway station is being built. River finds an older Ace and an older Tegan separately. Both can recall details of traveling with their specific Doctors but their memories are otherwise lost. River has to get Ace, Tegan, and some blueprints out of London that may not actually be the real London of the past.
"Driftwood" and "Dead Rising" are audios that have a similar feel, both written by Roland Moore. "Driftwood" is set after Ace has started traveling with Seven. Ace ends up on a spaceship that will self-destruct in about an hour. The captain of this ship believes Ace is sabotaging the ship. Her only source of help? A River that's still toting around her blaster and threatening to blow heads off, much to Ace's chagrin. "Dead Rising," in comparison, is set some time after Tegan is traveling with Five and Turlough. The three land on a colony and Five and Turlough are frozen. Tegan is questioned and disbelieved by the leader of this colony and ends up imprisoned (more or less) in said colony. Her only source of help: River, now carrying her sonic trowel and not threatening to blow heads off. It's a very subtle way of showing while the audio takes place in linear time for River (River is carrying her blaster in "Castaways"), River ends up meeting Ace and Tegan at various nonlinear points in their timelines.
"The End..." is set after River rescues Ace and Tegan. All of them are not safe, as a threat persistent throughout the audio needs to be neutralized.
[…] Ace and Tegan continues the trend of politically left-leaning commentary sneakily being woven in River Song audios (the latter Diary ofs and now The Death and Life ofs). I found the start of the story confusing; to be fair, part of my confusion is on my part since I'm not a regular listener of the main Doctor Who ranges and it's been like, a decade since I worked my way through downloads and Dailymotion videos of the classic series. (I say that because now you can go to a site like Tubi and watch a channel dedicated to the classic episodes and watch most of them on demand for free.) I also stopping watching the Thirteenth Doctor's run well before her last episode (I assure you it has nothing to do with Jodie Whittaker and everything with the writing). But enough about me. Once I was able to figure out what was going on in the audio, I was able to follow its delightful story. While the story stays true to Doctor Who ideology (namely the idea that the Doctors don't kill and a lot of his companions follow this idea), it does show how a person can change their mind over time. I really like a certain minor character that confronts River in "The End..." (I can't explain a lot, as the details are, well, spoilery.) It's an improvement on the last series for me and it opens up at the least a door into fanfic adventures [and the most Big Finish adventures] between Ace and Tegan.
*[...] Ace and Tegan doesn't reference any events from The Power of the Doctor and can be listened to without watching that episode.
