River Song (audio drama series)

Last updated

River Song
DiaryofRiverSongCover.jpg
Big Finish Productions audio drama
SeriesThe Worlds of Doctor Who
Featuring River Song
Directed by
Produced by
  • David Richardson
  • James Goss (S12)
Executive producer(s)
Starring Alex Kingston
MusicHoward Carter
Release dateDecember 2015 (2015-12) – present

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]

Contents

Background

Originally 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

List indicator

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least two seasons.

ActorCharacterAppearances
The Diary of River SongThe Death and Life of River Song
S1S2S3S4S5S6S7S8S9S10S11S12S1S2S3
Alex Kingston River Song ✓
Paul McGann The Doctor ✓Does not appear
Sylvester McCoy Does not appear✓Does not appear
Colin Baker Does not appear✓Does not appear
Peter Davison Does not appear✓Does not appear
Tom Baker Does not appear✓Does not appear
Tim Treloar Does not appear✓Does not appear✓Does not appear
David Bradley Does not appear✓Does not appear
David Tennant Does not appear✓Does not appear
Salome HaertelRachel BurrowsDoes not appear✓Does not appear✓Does not appear
Nina Toussaint-White BrookeDoes not appear✓Does not appear✓Does not appear
Timothy BloreLuke SulliemanDoes not appear✓Does not appear✓Does not appear

Notable guests

Episodes

The Diary of River Song

Series 1 (2015)

No.TitleDirected byWritten byFeaturingReleased
1"The Boundless Sea" Ken Bentley Jenny T Colgan Bertie PottsDecember 2015 (2015-12)
2"I Went to a Marvellous Party"Ken Bentley Justin Richards Bertie Potts, Mr. Song
3"Signs"Ken Bentley James Goss Mr. Song
4"The Rulers of the Universe"Ken BentleyMatt Fitton Eighth Doctor, Bertie Potts

Series 2 (2016)

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.
  • 1 2 3 4 5 "11. Diary of River Song Series 11: Friend of the Family". Big Finish Productions . Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  • ↑ Hughes Media Internet Limited (23 June 2023). "River Song and Jackie Tyler v the Krotons". Big Finish. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  • 1 2 3 4 5 6 "River Song returns from the dead". Big Finish Productions . Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  • ↑ "Previous Scribe Award Winners". 24 June 2013.
    • No.TitleDirected byWritten byFeaturingReleased
    The Classic Series
    The New Series
    The Worlds of Doctor Who
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.