Doctor Who mythology: Did River Song meet the Tenth Doctor more than once?
By James Aggas
On television, we only saw River Song meet the Tenth Doctor in one Doctor Who story. But could she have met him at other points off-screen?
We first met River Song in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. It was a pretty strong Doctor Who story, and it was clear that she was a very intriguing character, one who was heavily involved in the Doctor’s life. Or at least, in his future.
This was something that became clear when she asked him about what adventures he’s had with her so far. The Doctor had no idea who she was, but she seemed to know him very well. After she had briefly described a few of their adventures and encounters, she makes a comment about how “young” the Doctor looks. Younger than she’s ever seen him. And that’s when she realizes that the Doctor has no clue who she is.
After the events of this story, we don’t see River again until after the Doctor’s regeneration into Matt Smith’s incarnation in The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone. And the Doctor seemed very reluctant to meet her again. It’s not surprising, considering that her first appearance was when she was killed off, and the Doctor was reluctant to face her again knowing her future.
But considering Flesh and Stone was a key episode in the Doctor accepting River and his future with her, and he becomes more keen to see her again with every subsequent story, is it possible that they only met once in his Tenth incarnation?
Are there any clues about Ten and River meeting each other more than once?
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
Subtle clues and explicit moments
Well, according to Steven Moffat, definitely not, at least, if a key moment in The Day of the Doctor‘s novelization is anything to go by. While it’s only a brief meeting that essentially sets up the Zygon portion of the story, it is a key moment that shows that the Tenth Doctor met River at least once more. However, he was definitely reluctant to stay around her for longer than he had to, which explains why he was still so awkward about their reunion in The Time of Angels.
But even if we didn’t look at the expanded universe, there are subtle clues that point to River meeting Ten more than once. When we see Ten first meet her, she’s completely unphased by his appearance, and has no visible reaction to seeing her husband with a new face. Certainly, not in the same way she did when she realized who the Scottish man right beside her really was in The Husbands of River Song.
An already existing pattern?
There’s also a line that Eleven makes about their relationship in The Time of Angels:
"Time travel, we keep meeting in the wrong order!"
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Considering that this is only their second time meeting each other, at least on-screen, it’s perhaps a little early to suggest that they always meet in the wrong order. At least, if it was the second time. But if they had met even just once more before, then the Doctor knowing that it’s a pattern would make sense.
Could we have a full-length story featuring the two again? Well, that would be tricky. The Eleventh Doctor’s development in Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone is important because, while he had likely seen River more than once, it wasn’t long enough for him to essentially move on from her death.
A full-length story that doesn’t ruin their first story together isn’t impossible, (after all, River has worked brilliantly with Doctors pre-Ten, especially in Doom Coalition,) but it would definitely be tricky. Still, it could be a story that’s worth exploring further.
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What do you think? Whether you take the novelizations as canon or not, do you think that River and Ten met more than once? Would you like to hear them reunited in a Big Finish audio? Let us know in the comments below.
