The Husbands of River Song. That's the title of this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, and it certainly makes you wonder what River's been up to since we last saw her – and where the Doctor might fit in this time...
"It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor is hiding from Christmas carols and comedy antlers," reads the synopsis for the festive episode. "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?"
So as well as confirming that Man Down and Inbetweeners star Greg Davies and Little Britain's Matt Lucas are guest starring (and that their characters are called King Hydroflax and Nardole), the synopsis also suggests that, in terms of her own timeline, River is meeting the Doctor for the first time (at least, we assume that's why she doesn't recognise him).
What else do we know? Well, the picture that accompanies those details reveals that the giant robot in question is red, that the Doctor has finally got himself a new Sonic Screwdriver – and that River has something kind of Sonic looking herself...
Husbands. Plural.
Could Moffat be giving us a multi-Doctor story for Christmas? Or am I foolish to get my hopes up?
River Song + the fact Moffat's including her as a present to himself is more than enough to turn me off.
But then I've not been watching the latest series. I am watching Smith's last half-series though, that I'd previously skipped after Snowmen was so bad. And it's surprisingly unbad.
The difference in quality between series 7A and 7B was quite dramatic for me. None of the first 5 episodes rose above mediocre, and Snowmen was awful. Then all of a sudden the 'blockbuster movie every episode' concept seemed to click together much better.
I probably won't see this on Christmas Day though, none of the specials have been much cop since Christmas Invasion, ten fucking years ago.
Yeah, I've always taken the subtext of the Birther movement to be, "The rules don't count here! This is different! HE'S BLACK! BLACK, I SAY! ARE YOU ALL BLIND!?
- Raw Shark
Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent.
...isn't she dead? Isn't her "data ghost" dead too? How is that supposed to work? I thought it was pretty clear that River only knew up to the 11th Doctor. Plus, she actually had some closure last time, why does she need to be brought back at all?
Bah, who the hell am I kidding? Moffat wants to being her back as a present to himself, so of course it doesn't have to make any sense.
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - The official Troll motto, as stated by Adam Savage
Time-wimey. Actually I thought she did say she pictures of the Doctor's future faces in her blue book in the first Smith episode she was in, the Angels one.
What she said was she had pictures of ALL his faces... which really left it open how many Doctors she ever knew.
Given that both she and the Doctor are time travelers this really could be at any point in her timeline. After all, the first time we the audience meet her she dies - all other River Song stories are from earlier in her perspective, even if they came later in ours. Determining where she and the Doctor are in their lives is even a plot point sometimes. Give Moffat at least that much credit, he actually uses time travel in some of his stories.
Supposedly, the Christmas special will occur shortly after "Angels Take Manhattan" in River's timeline, meaning she knows Rory and Amy but has never met Clara (and I guess never will).
A lot depends on the chemistry between Capaldi and Kingston.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
I forget - did the 'saved' River actually die as well or was it left with her still stuck in the Library?
Yeah, I've always taken the subtext of the Birther movement to be, "The rules don't count here! This is different! HE'S BLACK! BLACK, I SAY! ARE YOU ALL BLIND!?
- Raw Shark
Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Crazedwraith wrote:River Song + the fact Moffat's including her as a present to himself is more than enough to turn me off.
But then I've not been watching the latest series. I am watching Smith's last half-series though, that I'd previously skipped after Snowmen was so bad. And it's surprisingly unbad.
The current season is a decidedly mixed bag, but it has some really great moments, particularly in the last couple episodes and the premier.
I'm hoping they'll end the series on a strong note. After that, well, it sounds like the Christmas special will just be light fluff.
After the last couple episodes with their heavy events and wham lines a little fluff will probably be a good thing.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
