The Diary of River Song

#1.03. Signs ~ 9/10

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◆ An Introduction

Most people are inclined to call this first series a mixed bag, but that the latter half is where things get interesting. James Goss has practically been running the Torchwood audios the last couple of years, but he’s also a damn good writer!

River’s working with her husband again, but she’s dying… and having some bizarre waking nightmares.

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◆ Publisher’s Summary

River Song is on the trail of the mysterious, planet-killing SporeShips.

Nobody knows where they come from. Nobody knows why they are here. All they do know is that wherever the SporeShips appear, whole civilisations are reduced to mulch.

But River has help. Her companion is a handsome time-travelling stranger, someone with specialist knowledge of the oddities and dangers the universe has to offer. For Mr Song has a connection to River's future, and he would never want his wife to face those perils alone…

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◆ Prof. River Song

James Goss has written some amazing material for our archaeological adventuress, and Kingston takes to the script like a duck to water. Her performance here was faultless.

Only River could decide to research something and immediately make a remarkable discovery. Finding a SporeShip before it’s detonated is unprecedented, and Mr Song suggests she write a book about it – texts on SporeShips do happen to be best sellers. If she manages to disarm it, then her book will be unique, because it will actually have some facts in it! River claims that fixed points in time don’t tend to mean anything when she’s around. She’s really annoyed to be dying, it just doesn’t seem fair. The first moment she wakes up, she feels fine and has forgotten about it… then she remembers and wishes she hadn’t woken up. River used to be immortal, but she gave it up, all for the Doctor to have a few more faces… it makes her wonder who she’d be if she had never met him. She claims that she was always better at dealing with engines than her husband. In her hallucination, she has no idea if she is alive or dead… all she can be certain of is her love for the Doctor. The minute River realises that Mr Song has been lying to her, she is MONUMENTALLY miffed (and who can blame her?) She is brilliant and annoyed, she also hates being used. It’s all very nice for two omnipotent forces to play chess with the universe, but River is about to show them that a pawn can become queen!

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◆ Puzzle Box

BigFinish tend to shy away from doing experimental scripts nowadays, so I must praise James Goss for his originality here. ‘Signs’ is best described as a puzzle-box narrative: River has been fatally wounded tracking down some ancient spacecraft, but something isn’t right. A man claiming to be the Doctor has rocked up with a new ship called the Sarah Jane, and River keeps having a waking nightmare where she’s being chased through its labyrinthine corridors… every time she finds herself getting closer and closer to a mysterious door… “Mr Song” denies its existence, but it’s there alright!

The pieces of this episode are set out like a jigsaw, and it’s down to the audience to figure out the right order of events… and just what the deal is with this mysterious “Mr Song”. It’s very reminiscent of scripts like ‘A Quiet Night In’ – there’s an air of unease running throughout because you know something isn’t quite right… like when the Master was masquerading as Jo’s Uncle to gaslight her.

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◆ Legacy of the Kamishi

SporeShips got a brief mention in the previous episode, but River is actively pursuing them in ‘Signs’. It’s believed they were created by the Kamishi – one of the earliest races to ever be birthed into our universe. Realising that they were just a tiny part of the universe, they became jealous of all the races that would succeed them… so created these giant ships to decimate life on a monumental scale!

They’re immensely deadly weapons, so it’s understandable that River would want to stop them. Much like the Rulers in the previous episode, we’re pretty much drip-fed scraps of information on the SporeShips – this is “show, don’t tell” being used perfectly to give us a compelling mystery.

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◆ Sound Design

Episodes that play around with story structure like ‘Signs’ allow the sound designer to really let loose. Howard Carter created a stunningly trippy soundscape here.

A ventilator breathes for a dying River, as a heart monitor steadily beeps beside her. The technology on the SporeShip is organic, squelching as River and “Mr Song” attempt to disarm it. The nerve cluster of the SporeShip begins to warble and vibrate as its detonation sequence begins. Tea pouring out of a pot, as “Mr Song” prepares refreshments. Buzzing insects on a jungle world that is positively teeming with life. Pouring rain on the planet Delva-98, and spiders scuttling all over our protagonists. Tweeting birds, fizzing champagne and rounds of applause all appear in the hallucinations that River keeps having. A hissing kettle, as tea and a picnic are prepared in the ship’s cargo hold.

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◆ Conclusion

“People with nothing to lose play the best games!”

BigFinish have definitely been playing it safe the past decade, so coming across an experimental outing like this is an absolute treat! ‘Signs’ is a fascinatingly trippy experience which allows you to pick apart its puzzle box narrative, trying to understand just what’s happening to River… and the true identity of this mysterious “Mr Song”.

How does he know so much about the Doctor? What are the SporeShips? I hope you have fun finding out the answers, because I certainly did!