It takes a lot more than becoming a data ghost to keep a good woman down, especially if that woman is the Doctor’s wife River Song! In what can only be described as “fantastic” news, BBC has confirmed that our favorite Time Lady will be back on ‘Doctor Who’ for this year’s Christmas special!
According to the release, filming of the special will begin this week and will be based on a script written by Steven Moffat (who has written all the Christmas specials since he took over as showrunner). Douglas Mackinnon will be directing. Whovians should be very familiar with Mackinnon as he has directed 7 ‘Doctor Who’ episodes ranging from the 10th Doctor’s reign (‘The Poison Sky,’ ‘The Sontaran Stratagem’), to the 11th (‘The Power of Three,’ ‘Cold War’) and most recently last season with the 12th Doctor (‘Listen,’ ‘Time Heist,’ ‘Flatline’).
Ever since Alex Kingston was introduced as Professor River Song in ‘Silence in the Library,’ she has been a fan favorite appearing in 15 episodes of ‘Doctor Who.’ Her wibbly wobbly timey wimey spacy wacey relationship with the Time Lord has both fascinated and perplexed viewers and her return only signals more great scenes between the two.
Returning to the character has caught Kingston by surprise as she states:
“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humour and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through, we had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September? Why not!”
Of course, Moffat (in his usual enigmatic style) continues to tease fans on what they can expect this Christmas:
“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”
Not much else is known about the Christmas special, but BBC has promised that the cast line up will be announced over the coming months.
Watching the adventures of the Doctor has become a Christmas tradition for many around the world and it’s great to see that this year we’ll also get River to come along for the TARDIS ride!
Now if we can only get them to bring back John Barrowman to return as Captain Jack!
Season 9 of ‘Doctor Who’ returns to BBC America on Saturday September 19 for 12 episodes culminating with a Christmas special which will air on Friday, December 25.
