DWO’s Spoiler-Free preview of the 2015 Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song;

So here it is, Merry Christmas! Everybody's having fun. Not least of them being Doctor Who, which is off on a bit of a lark following a season which saw the Doctor go through some fairly significant losses.

Bringing back Alex Kingston’s River Song to bounce off another incarnation of the Doctor was always going to be a recipe for fun, and The husbands of River Song doesn’t disappoint in this regard. Watching her dance around the screen with Peter Capaldi’s incarnation of the Time Lord is a real delight. There’s something about seeing the Twelfth Doctor let his hair down (so to speak… let his eyebrows down? There’s a breeze when he moves them…) and engaging in a bit of fun with his wife which is completely endearing and so perfect for Christmas Day.

As ever with River, the Doctor turns into a bit of a love-struck fool, and it’s really great to see a new side to Capaldi’s Doctor. Don’t fret that he’s not the Time Lord we’ve grown to know over the last two seasons, though; there’s a lot about his wife’s activities that this Doctor doesn’t approve of. Popping up with a new face (his thirteenth - one he’s not supposed to have and one River certainly doesn’t gave a picture of) gives him a chance to see what his beloved is like when he’s not around.

Oh, but the two of them absolutely sing together. Was there ever any doubt that they wouldn’t?

It helps that they’re supported by a stellar guest cast of husbands, fronted by the likes of Greg Davies as King Hydroflax, and Matt Lucas and Phillip Rhys as River’s partners in crime. As ever with names like this, there’s been a certain amount of grumbling about ‘stunt’ casting for the episode, but when you see the way everyone comes together on screen, you can’t help but get swept up in the ride. Make sure you hold on tight and don’t lose your head…

The episode also sees a very welcome return to the director’s chair for Douglas Mackinnon, who was sorely missed throughout the main bulk of Series Nine. Mackinnnon brings his style brilliantly to the worlds of the special, and there’s several moments where Doctor Who has rarely looked better.

There’s a danger that throughout this preview so far I’ve made the Christmas episode sound like a lot of larking about with no real substance, but never fear - the Doctor and River’s relationship has always been laced with emotion and sadness - how could it not when one of them dies on their first date? - and there’s a big dollop of that embedded in here, too.

Happiness and joy mixed with a hint sadness and thoughts of those we’ve lost. Is anything more Christmas than that?

Five things to look out for;

1) "I think I’m going to need a bigger flowchart…"
2) "The diary of River Song! The ultimate guide to the Time Lord known as the Doctor…"
3) "You are a time/space machine! You’ve a vehicle! I’ve never asked you to cheer me up with hologramatic antlers!"
4)  24 years. 
5) "An archeologist is just a thief with patience. I never had much of that."

[Sources: DWO, Will Brooks]

   

 DWO's Senior Art Editor and Editorial Team Member, Will Brooks has put together a rather nifty infographic explaining River Song's (rather complicated) time line. Click on the image below for a larger version.

DWO's Senior Art Editor and Editorial Team Member, Will Brooks has put together a rather nifty infographic explaining River Song's (rather complicated) time line. Click the image below for a larger version, or click HERE to open a super high-res copy.

The character of River Song (played by Alex Kingston) first appeared in the 2008 two-part story Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, opposite David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. At the time, she was played as a somewhat mysterious character from the Doctor’s own future, with a battered diary styled to resemble the TARDIS. Following her first appearance, there was a great deal of speculation as to just who River Song may be. In his book The Writer’s Tale, then-current showrunner Russell T Davies even commented that;

“I’ve read [Silence in the Library], and it has a character in it who I’m just sure is the Doctor’s wife (!!!)...”

Since then, River has returned to Doctor Who on several occasions, opposite Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. She’s faced off Weeping Angels (twice!), Daleks, the Silence, and even gets to take the credit for being ‘the woman who killed the Doctor’. Oh, and they get married, of course. 

While River Song’s story has been more closely tied to the most recent few seasons of the programme (and specifically to the Doctors former companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams), we’ve not always encountered her in the same order that she experiences events. 

The above timeline tracks her movements through the Doctor’s life, taking in all their adventures from her birth (in 2011’s A Good Man Goes to War) through to her death in the Library (during her very first appearance in the series). It charts all of her televised adventures with the Doctor, plus the 2012 video game story The Eternity Clock, and scenes made exclusively for the Series Six DVD/Blu-Ray release, plus several unseen adventures that River has recorded in her little blue book.

River’s timeline in relation to the Doctor’s may not be the most straightforward in the programme’s history, but it’s kept us guessing over and over again. The Name of the Doctor sees her finally being able to let go of the man she loves, but not before she promises him that there’s still a few more ‘spoilers’ to come... 

[Sources: DWO; Will Brooks]