Doctor Who review: The Lives of Captain Jack: R&J finally brings Jack and River together

The last episode of The Lives of Captain Jack Volume 3 brings together two much-loved characters of the Doctor Who universe: Captain Jack Harkness and Professor River Song!

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally happened: a story featuring Captain Jack Harkness and Professor River Song! While it’s never happened on-screen in Doctor Who, Big Finish Productions do what they do best by putting a perfect but previously unused idea on audio.

Perhaps even better is that, for this particular story, the Doctor isn’t around. I say “even better” because when you’ve got two great characters as fantastic as Jack and River meeting for the first time (and many other times, in fact), you want the focus to be on just the two of them for as much as possible.

So, naturally, R&J isn’t a typical Doctor Who adventure, but an episode from the audio spin-off box set The Lives of Captain Jack Volume 3. What’s particularly interesting about this episode is that it’s not just one single story, or even a single meeting. Perhaps rather fittingly, writer James Goss provides us with many meetings and little adventures for Jack and River to share, across the histories of their entire lives. So it’s definitely not an episode for newcomers of either character.

John Barrowman and Alex Kingston finally share a story as Jack meets River. Has this been worth the wait?

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

A lot of history

Unsurprisingly, there are a lot – and I mean a lot – of little continuity nods and gags along the way. Major events that fans know from both the TV series and even previous audios are heavily referenced. It also gets extremely timey-wimey, as unsurprisingly, due to time travel, Jack and River never actually meet in the right order.

But if you’re worried that this episode is just continuity for continuity’s sake, don’t be. Yes, there are many clear nods to stories and arcs that we know already. But it’s primarily there to help ground where the characters are in their lives for the audience.

Keep in mind, this episode is definitely designed for fans who know both characters pretty well, by this point. If not their audio adventures, then certainly the many adventures they’ve had on television. Big Finish knows their audience, and it’s generally pretty confident that fans buying box sets like this will have a good grasp of the relevant history, at least.

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Jack and River’s relationship

But the heavy continuity is worth it. Because this isn’t just a collection of adventures. It’s also the story of a relationship. A relationship shared by two extraordinary people who live extremely difficult lives. Their relationship is a complex one, especially as the audience knows that there’s another man in River’s life already. As such, along with the moments of fun and joy that they share, there are also moments of sadness, too.

In my review for the previous episode, Mighty and Despair, I stated that it was probably one of my favorite episodes of The Lives of Captain Jack yet. While completely different, that might be even more true of R&J. Honestly, it’s everything you could have wanted from a story featuring both River and Jack, but it’s also so much more. A fantastic story that’s a lot of fun to listen to, while also providing us with plenty of emotion, too. An absolutely essential listen for fans of both characters.

Have you been waiting for Jack to meet River? Is this something that should have happened on television? Are you glad that it’s finally happened now, even on audio? Let us know in the comments below.