Doctor Who Magazine have sent DWO the cover and details for Issue 495 of DWM.

Doctor Who Magazine finds out what happens when River Song runs into the Eighth Doctor in the new audio series The Diary of River Song – and interviews both Paul McGann and Alex Kingston!

“River has to interact with the Eighth Doctor to save him, to help him,” explains Alex. “When she’s figured out how she can do that without having to be physically present in front of him, alongside helping him, she can then tease and flirt a little bit, because she knows she’s safe, and she knows she hasn’t overstepped a boundary, or changed his or her future in any way by that actual physical interaction. So she can then have fun! She’s in control.”

And what does the Eighth Doctor make of River?

“What the Doctor says to River when he realises her acumen, her calibre, is ‘Wow, hang on a minute – where did you pick up all this?! For an amateur, you ain’t half clever’,” chuckles Paul. “He says, ‘Any time you fancy joining me, I could always do with a pair of hands’. He realises, almost instantly, how clever she is. ‘If you’re ever stuck for a trip round the universe helping me out, you’re on.’ So there’s that lovely playfulness as well. Of course, he’s doing it in blissful ignorance. And she’s trying not to appear too clever, and give the game away, but of course she has to save his life. So it’s great. It’s childish, but it’s great fun.”

ALSO INSIDE ISSUE 495...

ASK STEVEN MOFFAT
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers questions about the recent episode Heaven Sent – and find out whether the Doctor ever had to run around the castle naked!

THE DRAGON LORD
The latest comic strip adventure continues with Part 2 of The Dragon Lord, written by Steve Lyons, with art from Adrian Salmon.

CEREAL KILLERS
Doctor Who fans of the 1970s will get nostalgic, as we take a trip down memory lane and meet the artist behind Weetabix’s series of artwork cards, which were launched in 1975, and given away with packets of breakfast cereal.

THE ELEVENTH HOUR APPROACHES
The Time Team returns to watch the first adventure of the Eleventh Doctor – The Eleventh Hour. What will they make of the new Doctor, Amy Pond and Prisoner Zero?

WREAKING HAVOC
A tribute to stuntman Derek Ware, who worked on Doctor Who during its first decade, and has recently passed away at the age of 77.

THE EXXILON FACTOR
The Fact of Fiction takes an in-depth look at the 1974 Third Doctor adventure Death to the Daleks.

THE DWM REVIEW
DWM reviews the recent Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song. We also take a look at the latest books and audio and revisit 1968’s The Wheel in Space and 1977’s The Face of Evil.

THE DWM SEASON SURVEY!
Vote for your favourites of the most recent series, plus the book and audio releases from the past 12 months!

PLUS! All the latest official news, previews of upcoming releases, competitions, the answers to The Watcher’s Fiendishly Festive Christmas Quiz, The DWM Crossword and much more!

+  Doctor Who Magazine Issue #495 is out on Thursday 7th January, priced £4.99.
+  Subscribe Worldwide to DWM from just £19.49 via Unique Magazines!
+  Check Out The DWO Guide to Doctor Who Magazine!

[Source: Doctor Who Magazine]

The BBC have unveiled the title, full synopsis and 'iconic photograph' from this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special.

The special, which will air on Christmas Day on BBC One is called 'The Husbands Of River Song', and also features Matt Lucas (Nardole) and Greg Davies (King Hydroflax).

Along with the title, the BBC have also supplied us with a promo image featuring The Doctor, River Song and a red robot villain. The eagle-eyed among you will also notice The Doctor is holding a new Sonic Screwdriver! Find out how he gets it in the Series 9 finale '9.12: Hell Bent', this Saturday!

Below is the full synopsis for the episode: 

“It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor is hiding from Christmas Carols and Comedy Antlers. But when a crashed spaceship calls upon the Doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy.

King Hydroflax (Greg Davies) is furious, and his giant Robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas) survive? And when will River Song work out who the Doctor is? 

All will be revealed on a starliner full of galactic super-villains and a destination the Doctor has been avoiding for a very long time.”

+  The Husbands Of River Song airs on BBC One on Christmas Day. Time TBA.

[Source: BBC]

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, Executive Produced by Brian Minchin, 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 2015 Doctor Who Christmas Special will air on Christmas Day, Time TBC.

[Source: BBC Worldwide]

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Big Finish have today announced a new range of boxsets, featuring heroes and monsters from the New Series of Doctor Who.

Leading this new wave of adventures is Alex Kingston as River Song, the beloved Time Lord archaeologist who first appeared in 2008's Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.

River will be stepping into the era of the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) for Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2, alongside Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) and Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan). But how can River help her husband if, in this incarnation, she must never actually meet him?

“The idea of River meeting previous Doctors was actually proposed by Steven Moffat,” says producer David Richardson, “and it's just irresistible, isn't it? Alex embraced the idea of returning to the role, and so she will be starring in no less than two box sets next year. And yes, we are still pinching ourselves!”

River will then return later in 2016 in Doctor Who: The Diary of River Song, an epic four-hour adventure that takes River across space and time, seeking out the secret rulers of the universe. Paul McGann will reprise the role of the Eighth Doctor in the final instalment.

The New Series adventures will continue in Doctor Who: The Churchill Years, in which Ian McNeice returns as the indomitable Winston Churchill. In the four-hour saga, Winston relates a number of encounters with the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in his memoirs, battling alien incursions, metamorphosing creatures... and a Dalek! The stories are told by Ian McNeice, supported by a full cast of guest actors, including Danny Horn as Kazran Sardick, in a story taking place within the 2010 special A Christmas Carol.

“Ian has played Churchill in just four episode on TV, and yet it feels like it was many more,” says executive producer Nicholas Briggs. “It was such a brilliant, definitive performance, and how wonderful that we will be continuing Churchill's adventures with the Doctor on audio.”

Finally, the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors will face a new generation of monsters in Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters, a brand new, four-story run featuring creatures from the New Series. Peter Davison takes on the Weeping Angels, Colin Bakerencounters the Judoon, Sylvester McCoy will meet the Sycorax... and Paul McGann will face a new clone batch of Sontarans on the edge of the Time War....

“It's the ultimate mash-up,” says executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery, “and we have some great scripts lined up for these landmark stories. There is no doubt that 2016 is going to be a brilliant year for Big Finish!”

All four boxsets will be released across 2016, and are available to pre-order today from the Big Finish website. Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2 will be released in February, and is available as part of a special bundle of all four Doom Coalition boxsets.

Doctor Who: The Diary of River Song, Doctor Who: The Churchill Years and Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters can be pre-ordered for just £20 each on CD or Download, and are also available as part of our Doctor Who New Series bundle.

[Source: Big Finish]

 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]

A new license has been given by the BBC to Rubbertoe Replicas to make 100% authentic Doctor Who props.

The company, which is headed by New Series Doctor Who Prop Maker, Nicholas Robatto, offers a range of Doctor Who prop replicas, hand-made using the same materials and techniques as used on the show.

Speaking to DWO, Rubbertoe Replicas Founder, Nicholas Robatto said:

"After making props for Doctor Who for many years, we are incredibly excited to be launching our range of replicas and memorabilia. All our replicas are made in exactly the same way as they have been made for the show, so hopefully people will enjoy being able to own something that is a real, authentic piece of Doctor Who."

The current Rubbertoe Replicas Doctor Who product catalogue includes:

-  Gallifreyan Coasters - £46.99
-  Coaster Display Stands - £11.95
-  Sonic Coaster Display Stands - £11.95
-  Brass Gallifreyan Wibbly Wobbly Paperweight - £46.95
-  Silver Gallifreyan Wibbly Wobbly Paperweight - £46.95
-  TARDIS Type 40 Plaque - £37.99
-  'The Power Of Three' Cube - £37.99
-  Gallifreyan Sonic Screwdriver Display Holder - £39.99
-  River Song Squareness Blaster - £369.99
-  Captain Jack Sonic Blaster - £369.99
-  Dalek Death Ray Projector - £565.50 

+  Check Out the Rubber Replicas website.

+  Follow Rubber Replicas on Twitter: @DoctorWhoProps.

[Source: Rubbertoe Replicas]

The BBC have released a prequel clip for 6.13: The Wedding of River Song:

[Source: BBC Doctor Who website]

Forbidden Planet have teamed up with Character Options for another Exclusive Doctor Who Toy.

The River Song Pandorica Set features River Song (complete with gun accessory) with the Pandorica Chair (as seen in 5.12: The Pandorica Opens & 5.13: The Big Bang).

Of all the people who have travelled or will travel with the Doctor, River Song is the most enigmatic of them all. She always seems to be one step ahead of the Doctor, even when he’s in her past. Nobody has been able to figure out how River knows the Doctor so well, although there have been plenty of guesses! Although River is a force to be reckoned with, she sometimes needs the Doctor’s help – whether it’s against the Vashta Nerada or the Weeping Angels, or any of the other foes they have faced, or even will face in future. Confused? It will all become clear... one day...

Legend has it that the Pandorica is a prison, a cage to contain the most feared warrior in the universe. But it’s all a lie – the Pandorica is a box created to contain just one person – the Doctor. When his TARDIS exploded, all parts of time and space were wiped out, never having existed. The massed armies of all the Doctor’s foes – Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans and others banded together and created the legends of the Pandorica, and then locked him inside it. But the Pandorica energy was a restorative, it could bring things back to life, and the Doctor piloted the Pandorica into the heart of his exploding TARDIS and set off Big Bang 2, rebooting the entire universe.

+  The River Song Pandorica Set is released on 22nd August 2011, priced £22.99.

+  Preorder this product from Forbidden Planet!

[Source: Forbidden Planet]

In the next issue of Doctor Who Magazine (#433) - which sports 4 (yes 4) collectible covers, showrunner Steven Moffat talks exclusively to the magazine, confirming that one of the main four cast members (The Doctor, Amy, Rory & River Song) are marked for death and WILL die in the Series Six opener...

Of course, everything may not be as it seems, in what promises to be one of the biggest and most epic seasons of Doctor Who to date.

You can read Steven Moffat's full interview in DWM Issue #433, which is out this Thursday, priced £4.50.

+ Subscribe to Doctor Who Magazine from just £16.30!

+ Vote for who you think will 'die' in the Series 6 opener, in the DWO Forums.

[Source: @DWMTweets]

At the end of last night's Doctor Who Christmas special, the BBC aired a trailer for Series 6 of Doctor Who.

DWO have now uploaded an HD version of the trailer to our YouTube Channel, which you can view below:

[youtube:CnOeHDfN_V0]

[Source:  BBC]