River Song is an audio play series from Big Finish Productions based on the character of the same name who appears in the British television series Doctor Who played by Alex Kingston, who reprises the character in the audio series.[1]
| River Song | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | The Worlds of Doctor Who |
| Featuring | River Song |
| Directed by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Executive producer(s) | |
| Starring | Alex Kingston |
| Music | Howard Carter |
| Release date | December 2015 – present |
Background
editOriginally announced in 2015 as The Diary of River Song, the audio series is one of the first from Big Finish Productions to prominently feature elements from the revived era of Doctor Who (2005–). The character of River Song was introduced in the fourth series episode "Silence in the Library" (2008) with the Tenth Doctor as a mysterious figure from his future. She later became a recurring character across the fifth, sixth and seventh series of the programme, during which her true identity is revealed as Melody Pond, daughter to the Eleventh Doctor's companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams, and the Doctor's future wife. River Song's last TV appearance would come in the 2015 Christmas special "The Husbands of River Song" alongside the Twelfth Doctor.
In the first boxset story, The Rulers of the Universe, River cross paths with the Eighth Doctor, a still younger incarnation. She would appear again alongside the Eighth Doctor in the Doom Coalition series. The second series of The Diary of River Song features encounters with both the Sixth and Seventh Doctors.[2][3] The third series, announced September 2017, features an encounter with the Fifth Doctor with Frances Barber reprising her role of Madame Kovarian.[4]
Announced in October 2017, Big Finish confirmed that River Song would return for a fourth and fifth series to be released in 2018 and 2019 respectively. The fourth series features an encounter with the Fourth Doctor;[5][6] whilst the fifth series features encounters with multiple versions of The Master.[7][8]
Big Finish subsequently renewed The Diary of River Song in October 2018, for a further two more series (the sixth and seventh) to be released in 2019 and 2020.[9] In August 2020, the series was confirmed as renewed for its eighth series.[10] Big Finish Productions revealed in July 2021 a ninth series, uniting River with the Third Doctor, UNIT and Liz Shaw, would debut in October 2021. A tenth series was revealed by Big Finish in March 2022 to debut in July 2022.[11] An eleventh series, announced in August 2022, debuted in January 2023;[12] whilst a twelfth and final series was announced in June 2023 for release the following August.[13]
In April 2024, Big Finish announced a sequel series featuring River Song with Kingston reprising the role titled The Death and Life of River Song, which depicts River's post-mortem adventures as a data ghost, as first seen in "The Name of the Doctor" (2013).[14] The series began in August 2024. With the announcement, Big Finish retroactively renamed the entire audio series to simply River Song, with The Diary of River Song and The Death and Life of River Song serving as individual series within the range.
Cast
editThis section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least two seasons.
- A green cell indicates the actor is a main cast member.
- A red cell indicates the actor is a recurring cast member.
- A light blue cell indicates the actor is a guest or special guest cast member.
| Actor | Character | Appearances | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Diary of River Song | The Death and Life of River Song | |||||||||||||||
| S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10 | S11 | S12 | S1 | S2 | S3 | ||
| Alex Kingston | River Song | ✓ | ||||||||||||||
| Paul McGann | The Doctor | ✓ | ||||||||||||||
| Sylvester McCoy | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| Colin Baker | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| Peter Davison | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| Tom Baker | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| Tim Treloar | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||
| David Bradley | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| David Tennant | ✓ | |||||||||||||||
| Salome Haertel | Rachel Burrows | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||
| Nina Toussaint-White | Brooke | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||
| Timothy Blore | Luke Sullieman | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||
Notable guests
edit- Alexander Vlahos as Bertie Potts
- Joanna Horton as Brooke
- Frances Barber as Madame Kovarian
- Michelle Gomez as Missy
- Geoffrey Beevers, Eric Roberts & Derek Jacobi as The Master
- Claudia Grant as Susan Foreman
- Jamie Glover as Ian Chesterton
- Jemma Powell as Barbara Wright
- Ralph Watson as Captain Knight
- Christopher Benjamin as Henry Gordon Jago
- John Leeson as K9
- Jane Slavin as Anya Kingdom
- Joe Sims as Mark Seven
- Jon Culshaw as The Brigadier & The Master
- Daisy Ashford as Liz Shaw
- Mimî M. Khayisa as Other River Song
- Harry Peacock as Proper Dave
- Isla Blair as Older Mary Mortimer
- Wendy Craig as Older Maddie Mortimer
- Jemima Rooper as Mary Mortimer
- Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler
Episodes
editThe Diary of River Song
editSeries 1 (2015)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Boundless Sea" | Ken Bentley | Jenny T Colgan | Bertie Potts | December 2015 |
| 2 | "I Went to a Marvellous Party" | Ken Bentley | Justin Richards | Bertie Potts, Mr. Song | December 2015 |
| 3 | "Signs" | Ken Bentley | James Goss | Mr. Song | December 2015 |
| 4 | "The Rulers of the Universe" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Eighth Doctor, Bertie Potts | December 2015 |
Series 2 (2016)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Unknown" | Ken Bentley | Guy Adams | Seventh Doctor | December 2016 |
| 2 | "Five Twenty-Nine" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Rachel Burrows | December 2016 |
| 3 | "World Enough and Time" | Ken Bentley | James Goss | Sixth Doctor | December 2016 |
| 4 | "The Eye of the Storm" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Sixth Doctor, Seventh Doctor, Rachel Burrows | December 2016 |
Series 3 (2018)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Lady in the Lake" | Ken Bentley | Nev Fountain | Fifth Doctor, Brooke | January 2018 |
| 2 | "A Requiem for the Doctor" | Ken Bentley | Jacqueline Rayner | Fifth Doctor, Brooke | January 2018 |
| 3 | "My Dinner with Andrew" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Fifth Doctor, Brooke, Madame Kovarian | January 2018 |
| 4 | "The Furies" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Fifth Doctor, Brooke, Madame Kovarian | January 2018 |
Series 4 (2018)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Time in a Bottle" | Ken Bentley | Emma Reeves and Matt Fitton | Spod, Gammarae, Dante | September 2018 |
| 2 | "Kings of Infinite Space" | Ken Bentley | Donald McLeary | Spod, Gammarae, Dante | September 2018 |
| 3 | "Whodunnit?" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | Dante, Franz Kafka | September 2018 |
| 4 | "Someone I Once Knew" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Fourth Doctor, Dante, Gammarae | September 2018 |
Series 5 (2019)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Bekdel Test" | Ken Bentley | Jonathan Morris | Missy | January 2019 |
| 2 | "Animal Instinct" | Ken Bentley | Roy Gill | Luke Sullieman, The Decayed Master | January 2019 |
| 3 | "The Lifeboat and the Deathboat" | Ken Bentley & Jason Haigh-Ellery | Eddie Robson | The Morphant Master | January 2019 |
| 4 | "Concealed Weapon" | Ken Bentley | Scott Handcock | The War Master | January 2019 |
Series 6 (2019)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "An Unearthly Woman" | Ken Bentley | Matt Fitton | First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright (An Unearthly Child) | August 2019 |
| 2 | "The Web of Time" | Ken Bentley | John Dorney | Captain Knight, Yeti, The Great Intelligence (The Web of Fear) | August 2019 |
| 3 | "Peepshow" | Ken Bentley | Guy Adams | Third Doctor, Ogrons, Sontarans, Drashigs (Carnival of Monsters) | August 2019 |
| 4 | "The Talents of Greel" | Ken Bentley | Paul Morris | Henry Gordon Jago, Weng-Chiang (The Talons of Weng-Chiang) | August 2019 |
Series 7 (2020)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Colony of Strangers" | Ken Bentley | James Goss | – | January 2020 |
| 2 | "Abbey of Heretics" | Ken Bentley | Lizbeth Myles | – | January 2020 |
| 3 | "Barrister to the Stars" | Ken Bentley | James Kettle | – | January 2020 |
| 4 | "Carnival of Angels" | Ken Bentley | Roy Gill | Luke Sullieman, Weeping Angels | January 2020 |
Series 8 (2021)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Slight Glimpses of Tomorrow" | Ken Bentley | James Goss | Rachel Burrows | January 2021 |
| 2 | "A Brave New World" | Ken Bentley | Tracy Ann Baines | Tenth Doctor, Rachel Burrows | January 2021 |
| 3 | "A Forever Home" | Ken Bentley | Alfie Shaw | K9 | January 2021 |
| 4 | "Queen of the Mechonoids" | Ken Bentley | Jonathan Morris | Anya Kingdom, Mark Seven, Mechonoids | January 2021 |
Series 9: New Recruit (2021)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Blood Woods" | Ken Bentley | Lizbeth Myles | The Brigadier, Liz Shaw | October 2021 |
| 2 | "Terror of the Suburbs" | Ken Bentley | James Kettle | Liz Shaw | October 2021 |
| 3 | "Never Alone" | Ken Bentley | Helen Goldwyn | Liz Shaw | October 2021 |
| 4 | "Rivers of Light" | Ken Bentley | Lisa McMullin | Third Doctor, The Brigadier, Liz Shaw, The Master | October 2021 |
Series 10: Two Rivers and a Firewall (2022)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Two Rivers" | Ken Bentley | Tim Foley | – | August 2022 |
| 2 | "Beauty on the Inside" | Ken Bentley | Lizzie Hopley | – | August 2022 |
| 3 | "Black Friday" | Ken Bentley | Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle | Autons | August 2022 |
| 4 | "Firewall" | Ken Bentley | Barnaby Kay | Proper Dave | August 2022 |
Series 11: Friend of the Family (2023)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Rules of the House"[12] | Ken Bentley | Tim Foley | – | January 2023 |
| 2 | "The Key to the Door"[12] | Ken Bentley | Tim Foley | – | January 2023 |
| 3 | "The Bird from the Nest"[12] | Ken Bentley | Tim Foley | – | January 2023 |
| 4 | "The Isle on the Shore"[12] | Ken Bentley | Tim Foley | – | January 2023 |
Series 12: The Orphan Quartet (2023)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Excise Men"[13] | David O'Mahony | Lou Morgan | – | August 2023 |
| 2 | "Harvest of the Krotons"[13] | David O'Mahony | James Goss | Jackie Tyler, Krotons | August 2023 |
| 3 | "Dead Man Talking"[13] | David O'Mahony | Tim Foley | – | August 2023 |
| 4 | "The Wife of River Song"[13] | David O'Mahony | Lizzie Hopley | Brooke | August 2023 |
The Death and Life of River Song
editSeries 1: Last Words (2024)
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Apokalypsis" | Ken Bentley | Robert Valentine | - | August 2024 |
| 2 | "Fate and Fatality" | Ken Bentley | Robert Valentine | - | August 2024 |
| 3 | "The Black Hours" | Ken Bentley | Robert Valentine | - | August 2024 |
| 4 | "Book of the Dead" | Ken Bentley | Robert Valentine | - | August 2024 |
Series 2: Ace and Tegan
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Castaways" | Ken Bentley | James Moran | Dorothy 'Ace' McShane, Tegan Jovanka | January 2025[14] |
| 2 | "Driftwood" | Ken Bentley | Roland Moore | Ace, Tegan | January 2025[14] |
| 3 | "Dead Rising" | Ken Bentley | Roland Moore | Ace, Tegan | January 2025[14] |
| 4 | "The End is the Beginning is the End" | Ken Bentley | James Moran | Ace, Tegan | January 2025[14] |
Series 3
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TBA | Ken Bentley | TBD | TBA | August 2025[14] |
| 2 | TBA | Ken Bentley | TBD | TBA | August 2025[14] |
| 3 | TBA | Ken Bentley | TBD | TBA | August 2025[14] |
| 4 | TBA | Ken Bentley | TBD | TBA | August 2025[14] |
Awards and nominations
edit| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Work(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scribe Awards | 2020 | Best Audio | Concealed Weapon | Nominated | [15] |
References
edit- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited. "1. The Diary of River Song Series 01 - The Diary of River Song". Big Finish. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited (29 February 2016). "The Diary of River Song: Series 2 - Coming January 2017! - News". Big Finish. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Wickline, Dan (10 January 2017). "River Song Meets The Sixth And Seventh Doctors". Bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited (21 September 2017). "Alex Kingston is back in The Diary of River Song Series Three - News". Big Finish. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited (30 October 2017). "River Song is back! - News". Big Finish. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Fullerton, Huw (31 October 2017). "Doctor Who Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor and River Song team up for Big Finish series". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited (3 May 2018). "River Song 5 - News". Big Finish. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Fullerton, Huw (3 May 2018). "Doctor Who: Michelle Gomez and Eric Roberts return as the Master to take on River Song". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited (11 October 2018). "River Song Series 6 and 7 - News". Big Finish. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "The Diary of River Song Series 08". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ Hughes Media Internet Limited (11 March 2022). "The Data Ghost of River Song". Big Finish. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "11. Diary of River Song Series 11: Friend of the Family". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Hughes Media Internet Limited (23 June 2023). "River Song and Jackie Tyler v the Krotons". Big Finish. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "River Song returns from the dead". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ "Previous Scribe Award Winners". 24 June 2013.