Sorry, River Song Fans, She’s Not Coming Back to ‘Doctor Who’ Anytime Soon [Exclusive]

The Big Picture

• Showrunner Russel T. Davies addresses whether or not there’s a River Song reappearance in store for
  Doctor Who.
• River Song’s narrative still haunts
  Doctor Who
  , after key appearances with multiple Doctors.
• Fans eagerly await River’s potential return, as she continues to be referenced in the show.

In the hallowed halls of Hall H at San Diego Comic Con, Doctor Who returned to the convention after a 6-year hiatus. Showrunner Russell T. Davies was joined by the Fifteenth Doctor himself, Ncuti Gatwa as well as the latest companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) on stage. During the panel, Into the Whoniverse, the trio were asked about who would be a dream guest star to come to or come back to Doctor Who. Many in the audience, along with the RTD, Gatwa, and Gibson agreed that one Alex Kingston would be a mighty fine idea.

After erupting in cheers and laughter in Hall H, the trio talked with Collider’s Sam Coley at the Collider Media Studio about the speculation that got the crowd going. The long and short answer will disappoint River Song fans worldwide. “No, there is no Alex Kingston, I’m afraid,” says Davies. He explains that it was actually someone in the crowd that shouted the suggestion. “Actually, many people in the world shout Alex Kingston because she’s so marvelous,” Davies continues, “She’s lovely. But no. [Laughs] No.”

River Song Still Haunting the Narrative of Doctor Who

Professor River Song was first introduced to Doctor Who fans in the 2008 two-parter “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.” She intrigued the Doctor with her apparent foreknowledge of his personal future. Some of the final moments of “Forest of the Dead” would see River’s death, and make him promise to her that he would not change “one line” of their story to come. The back-to-front-criss-crossing love story would go on to be told in Kingston’s subsequent 13 on-screen appearances as Professor River Song.

Her character is most closely associated with the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) despite first meeting the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). Smith’s Doctor is the one who actually marries River in the appropriately named episode “The Wedding of River Song.” She would have one more episode featuring her name in the title the 2015 Christmas Special “The Husbands of River Song,” where she starred opposite Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.

Kingston has not reprised her role in the science fiction show onscreen since 2015, but has gone on to lend her voice to Big Finish Productions audio dramas featuring River Song. She also wrote and narrated the audiobook for the River Song adventure The Ruby’s Curse. River has also been mentioned about half a dozen times in onscreen mentions by the Twelfth Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), and most recently by the Fifteenth Doctor in “The Giggle” when talking to his younger self about everyone that The Doctor has loved and lost.

Given that it’s been nearly ten years since her last onscreen appearance and less than a month out from a series of audio dramas featuring River Song after her canonical death at the Library (through some future technology!) fans are chomping at the bit, wondering if and when she will return. While the news today is “no,” what it usually means in the world of Doctor Who is “not yet.” It just takes the right set of wibbly wobbly timey wimey circumstances to bring the fan favorite space-haired archaeologist back to our screens.

For now, you can rewatch River’s arc in Doctor Who (2005) on Max in the US. The latest season of Doctor Who streams on Disney+

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