Doctor Who: River Song will face the Weeping Angels in the seventh series of her spin-off

Exciting details have been revealed for the seventh series of Doctor Who spin-off The Diary of River Song, where the Doctor’s wife will not only play detective, but face the Weeping Angels once more!

Recently, Big Finish Productions revealed some interesting details of Doctor Who spin-off The Diary of River Song: Series Seven. Along with a fantastic cover featuring the Weeping Angels and River dressed as ‘Melody Malone’, we’ve also been given an idea of the overall shape of her next box set.

Script editor Matt Fitton has revealed what makes this series different to previous volumes.

"In series seven we see some more of what River gets up to away from the Doctor. We drop in on River in her ‘detective’ persona – looking into crimes and investigating mysteries whilst occasionally using her ‘Melody Malone’ alias – in four stand-alone stories dotted through space and time, and different genres."

This is actually pretty exciting. So far, previous series have featured some pretty major hooks. These have included meeting or sharing adventures with the Classic Doctors, or meeting several incarnations of the Master.

Now, this box set does admittedly have a major hook with the Weeping Angels. And River has had plenty of adventures on her own, of course. But it is extremely refreshing to have a box set where no major Time Lord makes an appearance, and River is allowed to have adventures on her own. River’s a strong character in her own right – in fact, I’ve enjoyed her most when she is away from her husband – so it’s nice to have a box set that’s even more focused on her than usual.

The last time we saw River, she was having adventures connected to popular stories from Classic Who. But in this series, she gets more original adventures of her own…

(Image Courtesy: Big Finish Productions.)

Detective stories

Like science-fiction, the genre of crime is huge. There are many different kinds of crime story that you could tell in a variety of ways, and it looks like River’s seventh series aims to prove that with its four separate episodes. Matt Fitton explains more on each of them.

"More from Winter is ComingFor All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule WesterosConfirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”In Colony of Strangers, we asked writer James Goss to go full Scandi-noir. We have taciturn policemen, grumpy farmers, dodgy mayors and bleak landscapes. When a body washes up on the beach of a colony world with a Nordic feel, River, of course, finds herself the prime suspect…New writer, Lizbeth Myles has given us a medieval mystery evoking The Name of the Rose, as River dons a habit (again!) and goes undercover in Abbey of Heretics. A convent is plagued by ghostly voices and mysterious deaths, while River is on the trail of a priceless book…There’s another new writer, James Kettle, for Barrister to the Stars in which Roger Hodgkiss, a curmudgeonly English QC, finds himself transported through space and time to defend Professor River Song on a murder charge. Precisely how this comes about is revealed in a courtroom romp, as defendant turns investigator with English law on her side…And finally, Roy Gill takes us to meet Melody Malone in New York noir Carnival of Angels – an investigation taking place just before the television episode, The Angels Take Manhattan. We find River in the city accompanied by her student Luke (from Roy’s series five tale Animal Instinct) looking into a mysterious funfair offering rides to heaven – or hell…"

Angels prequel

That’s quite a mix of genres there! They all sound like they’ll be a great fit for River, but I must admit, as a fan of noir, I’m particularly excited to listen to the opening and closing episodes.

Speaking of which, it’s definitely exciting that this isn’t just another encounter with the Angels for River, but one that’s closely linked to an adventure we already know. It’ll be interesting to find out how Carnival of Angels will lead into Manhattan. It’s also great to hear more from her student Luke, as it’ll mean hearing more of River’s teaching side.

The Diary of River Song: Series 7 will be released in January 2020 on both CD and download. You can pre-order it from Big Finish’s website right now. In the meantime, expect reviews for the previous series of Diary very soon.

Are you excited to hear more of River’s detective side? Which story sounds the most appealing to you? Are you happy that the Angels are returning once more? Let us know in the comments below.