Doctor Who: Alex Kingston Did Not Expect to Return

Tonight, we get to see the triumphant return of River Song as she gets to meet the Twelfth Doctor on screen for the first time. However, this is a moment that Alex Kingston did not expect to happen.

Doctor Who fans have a truly wonderful Christmas git waiting for them later on tonight, as we get to see River Song on screen once again. Finally, she will get to meet the Twelfth Doctor, a meeting that makes our imaginations run wild. It has already been referred to as a potential “sex storm” on what is still considered to be a kid’s program, and even caused the nickname ‘Doctor Ooh.’

While the pairing of River and the Twelfth Doctor seems so perfect, Alex Kingston never expected it to happen. Her last appearance, during The Name of the Doctor, had the feeling of being the end of her time on the show.

"“I thought that was it for me,” Kingston said. “I mean, it was never officially discussed, and I was never officially told, ‘That’s it.’ But enough time had passed for me think, ‘Well, that’s that.’”"

Although Kingston was never told she was not going to return, it would have been easy to think that the writing was on the wall. Peter Capaldi had replaced Matt Smith as the Doctor, and with the way her character was last seen, it would have made sense for that to be her final moments on Doctor Who.

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Yet, that ending would not have truly held up. River mentioned knowing the Doctor when he was “older,” and given that the Eleventh Doctor was younger looking than David Tennant’s incarnation, it left the door open for a return. While she has appeared in the Big Finish audios with the Eighth Doctor, it would not have made sense for that to be the reference she was making. We expected to see her on our televisions once more.

When Capaldi came aboard, it appeared as though we would have the explanation for how she met the Doctor when he was “older.” Here was an incarnation that appeared to be the age that we would have expected, with a personality that seemed perfectly matched to River’s wittiness. It would truly have been a missed opportunity if they did not meet.

Next: Series Ten Could be Peter Capaldi's Last

Fortunately, after tonight, the idea of what would happen if/when River Song met the Twelfth Doctor will no longer fall into the realm of speculation. We will get to see what could be one of the best pairings in the new incarnation of Doctor Who.