The Diary of River Song: Five Twenty-Nine

The Diary of River Song #2.2

by John Dorney

River has made a terrible discovery.

Billions of lives hang in the balance. But if she can save just a few, then it might just help her solve the conundrum of Earth’s destruction.

But how can she win when survival becomes a race against time itself? A race against Five Twenty-Nine?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, British Literature, Time Travel, Media Tie In

Audio CD

First published December 1, 2016

About the author

John Dorney is a British writer and actor best known for stage roles including the National Theatre, the BBC Radio 4 sitcom My First Planet; and his scripts for the Big Finish Doctor Who range. His script 'Solitaire' was rated the most popular Doctor Who Companion Chronicle of 2010 on the Timescales website and was the runner up in Unreality Sci-fi net's poll for Story of the Year 2010-11.

As well as Doctor Who, he has written for Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel series and on radio co-wrote three series of BBC Radio 4's Recorded for Training Purposes. He won the BBC Show Me the Funny 'Sketch Factor' competition, was a finalist in the BBC 'Laughing Stock' competition, and has performed in Mark Watson's Edinburgh Comedy Award winning long shows as 'The Balladeer'. On stage, he has written plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead and Soho Theatres.

He trained at LAMDA.

Reviews

[Magdalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just stunning. Slow, calm and absolutely terrifying.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this is a dark one.

After the manic craziness of the previous chapter, I was not expecting something this ... still, this ... relentless, this ... serious, this ... inevitable. A talented cast that delivers this beautiful, gorgeous and singularly, powerfully, emotionally moving story.

[Marcel Driel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was so sweet and so sad at the same time. One of the very best episodes Big Finish has made. And an example of how to make a reader/listener care for new characters in a very short time. Marvelous writing and acting. And the sound design was so vivid, it was like I was really there. Fantastic.

[The Post Monument · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 4 out of 5]

42 WORD REVIEW:

One of the better Big Finish stories, not offering full closure but nonetheless presenting a global extinction event with sombre melancholy. Sans any of the Doctors, River Song is given space to make the programme her own. Alex Kingston does just that.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one didn't hold my interest until almost the end.

[Vincent Darlage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but created more questions than answered. I liked the robot character a lot.

[Georgina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first one that actually disappointed me. Enjoyed the performances, it was just that the story couldn't fill an hour.

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's always fun following River's adventures. Interesting story.

[Clara Therrien-Gros-Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most probably my favorite story of both series of the Diary of River Song so far. Simple and personal, those are always my favorite kind of stories, brilliantly done by the Big Finish team!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some lovely character and 'life' moments in this one. Another #DamnYouDorney story :D

[France-Andrée · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was special, I really loved it. It is character driven (I've seen someone calling it slow moving, I like to call that well developed). River meets a family and tries to keep them alive while racing "something" (very mysterious and intriguing) that is devastating the planet time zones by time zones.

Like I said in my side comments: well developed, mysterious and intriguing also well acted; the actress playing Rachel is Salome Haertel, Alex Kingston's daughter and Robert Pugh is playing the father and I am a fan of his so that was a treat. I normally try not to listen to more than one stories a day, but I know today I am going to fail and continue listening to this boxset because after this particular story, I want to know what did happen to this earth and if it is at all possible to save it or not.

[Taksya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secondo episodio per la seconda stagione del diario di River.
Storia collegata all'episodio precedente. La scoperta sul finale del primo capitolo porta River indietro nel tempo, nel tentativo di scoprirne l'origine.
Coinvolta nel fenomeno che porterà alla solita distruzione della Terra, come sempre non potrà salvare nessuno e otterrà pochi indizi per sbrogliare il mistero.
Episodio un po' fiacco, dove non capita nulla se non in sottofondo.
Speriamo nel terzo episodio... dove sarà nuovamente alle prese con il Dottore.

[Idris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't hate it at all, but it was very slow going after The Unknown. I thought the suspense aspect was very well done. It was a very bittersweet story. I loved how much like the Doctor (and Donna) River was in just wanting to save somebody, anybody when the end was coming. Fascinating.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of the end of the world and the saving of one synthetic life-form.

[Raze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeez, what a tearjerker. I was not prepared for this episode... Rachel was a pretty unforgetable character.