[Redacted] is back!

Morrus · Sep 3, 2015

Name hidden in the title to avoid spoilers (though it's been all over the news this week!)

Just 2 weeks until the new series of Doctor Who. And in this year's Xmas Special, someone familiar will be returning....

Alex Kingston returns to Cardiff to reclaim her role as Professor River Song for the highly anticipated 2015 Doctor Who Christmas special, part of BBC One’s essential seasonal viewing.

It’s Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas.

Day one of filming the eleventh Doctor Who Christmas special starts this week and is written by Lead Writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, produced by Nikki Wilson and directed by Douglas Mackinnon (Doctor Who, Sherlock).

River Song made her first Doctor Who appearance in 2008 in ‘Silence in the Library’ and ‘Forest of the Dead’ and has appeared in 15 episodes to date.

Award winning Alex Kingston comments on her reappearance, “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!”

Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, adds, “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...”

The witty line-up of guest cast joining Alex for a magical adventure on the TARDIS will be announced over the coming months.

The BBC Cymru Wales produced drama will return to BBC One on Saturday, 19 September with a 12 episode series, followed by the Christmas special on Friday 25 December.

Personally, I've never understood it when folks say that her story is over. Sure, we saw the start and the end of her life. But the 16th Doctor might meet her when she's 7 years old, and the 25th Doctor might meet her when she's 25. They're time travellers, and they can intersect at any point in either of their respective lives.

Hand of Evil · Sep 3, 2015

Their honeymoon could be an amazing story plot and fill a season.

Janx · Sep 3, 2015

tactical question. I have canceled cable. saved $100/month. I have netflix, amazon prime and SLing TV (still cheaper than $100/month)

How can I see the new Doctor Whos in the brave new world without cable that I now live in?

Are the eps likely to be on iTunes the next day where I can pay $2 each?

Morrus · Sep 3, 2015

Move to England and watch it on BBC1?

Janx · Sep 3, 2015

Morrus said:
Move to England and watch it on BBC1?

That;s a good seemingly straightforward approach.

But I wonder if there might be some logistical challenges. I'd need passports. And my critters seem like they'd be hard to move. And all my stuff. And my house.

Would England let me work from home for my current employer? I recall England was difficult about letting folks in to work a good many years back.

Umbran · Sep 3, 2015

Morrus said:
Personally, I've never understood it when folks say that her story is over. Sure, we saw the start and the end of her life. But the 16th Doctor might meet her when she's 7 years old, and the 25th Doctor might meet her when she's 25. They're time travellers, and they can intersect at any point in either of their respective lives.

Yeah, she can be around basically forever. They can even recast her, when Alex Kingston gets too old.

But that would be a shame, because she's *so* good.

Morrus · Sep 3, 2015

Umbran said:
Yeah, she can be around basically forever. They can even recast her, when Alex Kingston gets too old.

But that would be a shame, because she's *so* good.

I think we're stuck with the three regenerations we saw, since we saw each regeneration. I don't think they can stick another one in there.

Or do you mean another actor simply playing the same regeneration? That could work. That dramatization about the creation of the show a couple of years back had wonderful castings of Hartnell and Troughton.

delericho · Sep 3, 2015

Umbran said:
Yeah, she can be around basically forever. They can even recast her, when Alex Kingston gets too old.

That might be tricky, unless they retcon something. Canonically, she sacrificed her ability to regenerate to save the Doctor (and also died, of course). They could potentially introduce an earlier regeneration in there, but that has the problem that until the AK incarnation she was an enemy of the Doctor.

All that said, Moffat doesn't appear to be short of handwavium, so I guess it's not such a problem.

Umbran · Sep 3, 2015

Janx said:
How can I see the new Doctor Whos in the brave new world without cable that I now live in?

Netflix picks up the season some time after it is done (so, they have up through new Who Series 8 now). This would put you on delay with respect to those who watch it on first airing, but it makes for a decent last resort.

Not a new article, but might be useful:

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/08/complete-guide-streaming-doctor-u-s/

Ryujin · Sep 3, 2015

Morrus said:
Personally, I've never understood it when folks say that her story is over. Sure, we saw the start and the end of her life. But the 16th Doctor might meet her when she's 7 years old, and the 25th Doctor might meet her when she's 25. They're time travellers, and they can intersect at any point in either of their respective lives.

Exactly.

[sblock]She may only have one life and no regenerations, but how long might a Time Lord live if not for violent death? And she is a "human Time Lord", after all. A quick check shows that the second doctor stated that a Time Lord could be effectively immortal, barring violent death.[/sblock]