She was last seen in 2013’s The Name of the Doctor; where the beloved River Song said a final “goodbye sweetie” to her hubbie the Doctor, which left most Whovians believing that was the character’s final appearance in BBC’s Doctor Who. Surprisingly, it turns out that the face behind the Doctor’s wife – Alex Kingston also thought it was the end of the road for River Song.
Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, Kingston revealed how certain she was about her departure: “No, no, I didn’t expect to be back, I thought that was it for me“. It was announced last month that Kingston would be reprising her role as River Song in the Doctor Who Christmas special entitled The Husbands of River Song; which will see her inevitably bringing trouble to the TARDIS’ doorstep.
She continued, explaining that she was never officially told that series 7’s The Name of the Doctor would be her last. “I mean, it was never officially discussed, and I was never officially told, ‘That’s it.’ But enough time had passed for me think, ‘Well, that’s that.’ They’d done a season with a change of Doctor and there was no mention at all of my character coming back“.
When asked if Jenna Coleman‘s departure would mean a permanent return for River, Kingston seemed insistent that the TARDIS wouldn’t be big enough for the both of them long term and River’s adventurous personality means she can’t always be present: “I think what the fans love is she’ll come in for an adventure but then goes off again – so one can sort of spend one’s time imagining what she does when she’s not with the Doctor“. See The Husbands of River Song Christmas Day at 5:15pm on BBC One. In the mean time, watch the trailer below:
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