The Talents of Greel (audio story)

 was the fourth story of the audio anthology, The Diary of River Song: Series Six. It was written by Paul Morris and featured Alex Kingston as River Song and Christopher Benjamin as Henry Gordon Jago.

Publisher's summary
River visits Victorian London on the trail of anachronistic technology. But when young women are stolen from the streets, she takes a stand. River's investigation leads to theatre impresario Henry Gordon Jago, and his latest star act: Li H'Sen Chang and the unnerving Mr Sin. But if River's going undercover at the Palace Theatre, she needs to have a song...

Plot
At the auditions for new performers conducted by Henry Gordon Jago, River Song appears, but she seems more interested in asking him questions about the theatre than in being hired. She is therefore rejected. A French dancer, Celestine Sorbonne, shows up soon afterwards and proposes that Jago perform a dance number similar to the one at the Moulin Rouge. Although tempted, Jago must refuse, not convinced that the new kind of show would appeal to his audience.

That evening, Li'Hsen Chang performs at the theatre with the assistance of Mister Sin and Mister Fez, a fez-wearing monkey trained to steal objects from spectators (in this case, a young woman named Emma Buller). After the performance, Jago confides in him that his theatre is not having a good time financially. Chang offers to solve his problems and puts him in touch with his patron, Angus Peel, a wealthy and disfigured patron of the arts who is willing to finance Jago if he assembles an impressive corps de ballet made up of many young women. Jago has doubts, but decides to accept.

That same evening, River (who has spent the evening trying to get into the cellar of the Palace Theatre) meets Maisie Bunting, a dancer, and witnesses her abduction and then murder by Mister Fez and Peel (actually Magnus Greel who killed him and took his place), who sucks the life essence out of her with his cane. River then goes to Celestine, Maisie's roommate, to inform her of what has happened, just as Jago has also come to offer to put together the show that Peel has requested. Celestine accepts the assignment, while also offering to help River catch Maisie's murderer; River also offers her services to Jago inside the theatre, so she can move in undisturbed.

River and Celestine finally get a look into the Palace Theatre's cellar, discovering 51st century machinery that confirms to River that Magnus Greel is behind the disappearances of young women and Jago's new play. During rehearsals, River confronts Chang directly in his dressing room; she resists his attempts at hypnotism, but Mr Fez steals her vortex manipulator. Luckily, River manages to track down the monkey and, once she realises it is being controlled by psionic impulses transmitted through the fez, manipulates them with her sonic trowel. The next evening at the show, Chang promises Jago a new act for which he requires special equipment (a large watch) and a secret guest. River senses that with this new act Chang intends to completely subjugate someone to his will, and again manipulates Greel's machinery, which is supposed to enhance Chang's abilities, to prevent this.

While River performs on stage as a singer with Jago (the latter had thought River was offering himself as a singer), Chang meets Celestine - and the woman remembers that the two had met and loved each other in Paris, but then she had forgotten all about it. Chang returns to the stage and sets up his own act: he intends to subdue Jago using his new equipment, with his powers enhanced by Greel's technology. Greel, meanwhile, kidnaps Celestine and takes her to the cellar, where he prepares to extract the vital essence from her. Pursued by River, he reveals to her that, with Jago completely subjugated to his will, he will be able to attract as many victims to his theatre as he wishes to sustain himself, and perhaps even control the Queen and rule this barbaric (for him) age. River blows it all by destroying the machinery he had previously manipulated, so that Chang's trick will not work on Jago beyond the limits of a normal hypnotism act.

Chang arrives to tell Greel of his failure, but in front of the imprisoned Celestine he finds the strength to temporarily rebel against his master: it was he who had erased Celestine's memory, because he loves her and wanted to spare her the pain of the truth. On River's instructions, he uses her sonic trowel to activate her new instructions to Mr Fez, who steals Greel's psionic staff and brings it to River, who uses it against Greel to weaken him, allowing her and Celestine to escape. Chang saves his master by destroying the monkey's fez, which escapes into the sewers - straight into the food of the giant rats created by the mad scientist.

Celestine leaves the Palace Theatre and London after the latest painful events. In turn, River greets Jago, warning him to be on his guard against Chang, just as the sound of the TARDIS landing is heard in the distance.

Cast

 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Henry Gordon Jago - Christopher Benjamin
 * Li H'sen Chang / Mr Sin - Nicholas Goh
 * Magnus Greel - Angus Wright
 * Celestine Sorbonne / Maisie Bunting - Milly Thomas
 * Casey - John Paul Connolly

Continuity

 * Emma Buller will later also be killed by Chang and Greel. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
 * When River sings, she mentions Sutekh on Mars (TV: Pyramids of Mars). She also indirectly states her real name is Melody Pond (TV: A Good Man Goes to War, et. al)
 * Bernice also sung as part of a story. (AUDIO: Oh No It Isn't!, The Worst Thing in the World)