Doctor Who: River Song Could Return, Says Alex Kingston

CBR

By Ian Cardona

Published Feb 21, 2019

Alex Kingston, who played River Son on Doctor Who for more than five years believes that she could return to long-running sci-fi series.

On the BBC's Doctor Who, Alex Kingston first appeared as Professor River Song in the fourth season of the sci-fi series' modern revival. Her character stood apart from the rest because, like the Doctor, she was a time-traveler, but they would never meet in the right order. The character would later be revealed as the Doctor's wife (it was a whole thing) and go on to appear alongside three different incernations of the immortal Time Lord: David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.

And while River Song's final appearance brought her storyarc full circle, the door was still left open for a potential return. Now, the actress who brought the character to life, Alex Kingston, has said that she believes River Song could return to share the screen with Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. In an interview with Radio Times, Kingston recounted the day she met Whittaker at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego.

"Yeah I did meet her," Kingston revealed. "We chatted about me coming back to Doctor Who! I love the character, and I think that, my gosh, there are wonderful potential opportunities down the road. But it’s not my decision. The fact is, because they’re all the same person ultimately, I don’t think she would think of her any differently to any of the others in a way. Because they’re the same spirit inside. It’s just a different, deep love. And you know, technically the Doctor is River’s second wife. Cleopatra being the first."

"River Song, the world that her character lives in, and the world of Doctor Who, and time travel…everything is sort of heightened in a way," Kingston continued."The experiences are much more heightened. The reactions. It’s all a little bit larger-than-life."

Sure, there might not be any official plans for Kingston to return to Doctor Who, but with Whittaker on-board, you never know. Perhaps we will see River Song again in Season 12. "Oh listen, I’m always at the end of the phone. We’ll see."

Doctor Who stars Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth iteration of the titular Time Lord. Whittaker is joined by co-stars Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill in a series spearheaded by new showrunner, Chris Chibnall. The New Year's Special "Resolution" was the only new episode of 2019, with production of Season 12 now officially unfolding this year. The new episodes are slated to arrive some time in 2020.