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You may be looking for Web of Time.

The Web of Time was the second story of the audio anthology, The Diary of River Song: Series Six. It was written by John Dorney and featured Alex Kingston as River Song and Ralph Watson as Captain Ben Knight.

Publisher's summary[]

The capital has been evacuated. Monsters stalk the Underground. For River, it's the perfect opportunity to steal a priceless artwork, so long as she can avoid looters, soldiers and an alien invasion.

With the gallant Captain Knight at her side, River faces the Great Intelligence and its Yeti army. But her biggest challenge may be keeping time itself on track...

Plot[]

River is summoned by Madame Neon, an art collector, to track down the sixth copy of a painting by Peter Bruegel the Elder, part of a cycle on the seasons. The collector has tracked down the last location of the copy in London during the Yeti attack, and wants River to retrieve it before the building in which it is located collapses.

River accepts the assignment and, after carefully reading her husband's diary, materialises in the London of the time. A few moments before she arrives, however, two looters, Maude and her daughter Erin Harris, have already stolen the painting by removing it from the frame; what is worse, River is intercepted by a group of soldiers who are proceeding to the forced evacuation of civilians from the area. At their command is Captain Ben Knight, whom River has read about in the diary, and who she knows must survive to save the Doctor's life. The group of soldiers is attacked by the Yeti; River doesn't know it, but they are looking for her: the Intelligence has detected her arrival, and thinks she might be the Doctor.

River tries to save all the soldiers by shooting the Yeti, but realising she can't do it, decides to save only Knight, teleporting out of the building just before it collapses. Together, the two go in search of the looters, River to find the painting, Knight to do his duty as a soldier. River tries to explain to him what's going on, telling him that she's from the future and shouldn't interfere too much with history: if it doesn't go as it should, the consequences of the event will change drastically. Knight somehow understands, and asks if they will be able to repel the invasion (River says yes) and if he will be happy in the future (River again says yes, somehow lying to him). Knight also suggests that River is actually less callous than she suggests, declaring himself convinced that she will do the right thing in the end.

River and the soldier find Erin in a nearby house, alone (her mother has gone out to find supplies), and River forces the girl to give her back the painting at gunpoint. The three of them are again attacked by the Yeti, whom River shoots away; Erin manages to escape, after hitting River and stealing her vortex manipulator. River realises this only later, while she is trying to leave with the painting: she is forced to stay and look for the girl with Knight, unaware that the latter has just been captured by the Intelligence, who killed her mother and possessed her body.

River and Knight are also captured by the Yeti, led by the Intelligence in the body of Corporal Buscombe, Knight's fellow soldier killed in the previous confrontation. With the threat of hurting the little girl, Buscombe forces the two of them to follow him to his lair, the Houston Street station: the Intelligence has realised that River is not the Doctor, but it has also guessed that her intelligence is almost on par with the Doctor's, so it has decided to absorb her brain. River pretends to hug Erin to console her for her mother's death, but actually steals her manipulator and uses it to leave - actually returning soon after with the gun loaded again to help Knight and Erin, thus confirming her good heart in the soldier's eyes. River shoots the pyramid of the Intelligence, causing the centre to explode, but in the ensuing escape she finds herself forced to choose between keeping the painting and saving Erin: reluctantly, she decides to let the painting burn.

Back outside, River explains that she didn't really defeat the Intelligence: she just disconnected it, but it's still out there, ready to find another lair (it will be defeated in a few days by the Doctor, anyway). With a kiss, she makes Knight forget everything and then leaves, taking Eryn with her to Neon: the girl will have a job as a new tour guide to her collection.

Cast[]

Worldbuilding[]

  • Erin and Maude hide away in the vestuary at St George's.

Notes[]

  • This story is concurrent with the novel Fear of the Web. During the course of that novel, it is mentioned that Captain Knight disappears for a time into Soho with Corporal Buscombe.
  • This story takes place before the Second Doctor's involvement in TV: The Web of Fear.
  • Referencing the UNIT dating protocol, one in-universe explanation for the UNIT dating controversy, River cuts Captain Knight off before he can reveal the year this story is set in.

Continuity[]

External links[]

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