The first series of River Song’s Big Finish adventures contains the following stories:

The Boundless Sea, by Jenny T. Colgan: I loved the archaeology aspect of this story, and River is delightfully sassy. (One character bristles at River telling him to do things and says “I think you’ll find that I am not your manservant.” River responds, “I barely had you marked down as a man at all.” SCORCH POW.) This story had some great sound design, particularly to evoke the buzzing creatures. Gaaaaah.

I Went to a Marvellous Party, by Justin Richards: This wasn’t too bad. It ties in really, really well with the next story, Signs. At this point I found myself thinking that River’s theme song reminds me a bit of James Bond for some reason. Maybe it’s the quiet piano in the middle that makes me think of Live and Let Die.

Signs, by James Goss: This was another very strong story and the creepiest one of the set. Lots of twists and turns, and some great sound effects. Samuel West plays an effective role in this one, and I particularly enjoyed his discourse on tea making (“warming the pot is supposed to enhance the flavour, but there’s no science to support it”). This is a bit of a sad story, though, and I definitely choked on a few tears.

The Rulers of the Universe, by Matt Fitton: So glad that River met Eight! But for some reason I didn’t find this story quite as thrilling. Perhaps it was an anticlimax after the emotional wringer that was the previous story. Logically and continuity-wise it worked well, but it just didn’t leave me spellbound.

I gave this 4.5 stars because I zipped through it in an afternoon—never has cleaning out cupboards been so fun! Looking forward to Series 2, which I may have to listen to sooner rather than later. ( )

I have never been a big fan of books on cd because they mostly put me to sleep. However this is an audio drama and it is like listening to a show without watching it. I loved it. Currently I am listening to River Songs Diary series two. I think I'm addicted. ( )