Alex Kingston's River Song is officially coming back to Doctor Who in 2026. The franchise icon has penned a book called Doctor Who: Stormcage: A River Song Adventure. Kingston has written the story as a choose-your-own-adventure, giving the reader a chance to read the book more than once and experience it differently. The hardcover edition is set to hit shelves on February 12, 2026. It'll also be available as an ebook from the same date.
River made her Doctor Who debut in 2008. Kingston's character has appeared in a total of 18 episodes, but hasn't returned since 2015's "The Husbands of River Song." Her timey-wimey dynamic with the Tenth (David Tennant), Eleventh (Matt Smith), and Twelfth (Peter Capaldi) Doctors remains one of the franchise's most cerebral and fascinating storylines. Although River was created by former showrunner Steven Moffat, Kingston is arguably the perfect person to write Stormcage thanks to her numerous performances as the character.
What is Doctor Who: Stormcage about (and is it canon)?
Stormcage sounds as though it will start with River imprisoned in the book's titular high-security facility. When aliens invade to free a prisoner, a phenomenon known as a Fate Nexus will then appear and give River the chance to escape. The official synopsis explains that a Fate Nexus is "a gateway to multiple exit points in time, space, and beyond." So, the Fate Nexus is what appears to be the baked-in mechanism for how the reader makes decisions on how River progresses through the story.
While Doctor Who often thrives on storylines with flexible outcomes, Stormcage sounds a little too complex to be considered canon. With readers capable of exploring different options, who's to say which one is the "real" version of events? Besides, a lot of Doctor Who media generally isn't considered canon unless it's in the live-action parent show or its spinoffs, like Torchwood. So, if regular Doctor Who books aren't fully canon, it's even less reasonable to hold Stormcage up as part of the official continuity. It does sound awesome, though.
Can River ever come back properly in Doctor Who?
Moffat crafted a perfect arc for River Song during his time writing for Doctor Who. Although certainly complicated, every detail of her relationship with the Doctor has been included for a specific reason. Her exit in "The Husbands of River Song" was the fitting ending to her storyline. If the show were to bring her back in a canonical capacity, the script would need to honor her existing episodes and be a worthwhile endeavor in and of itself.
So, although Kingston has often spoken very positively of her time playing River Song, writing something like Stormcage is probably her most realistic option when it comes to returning to the role. It's not impossible that we could see her playing River Song on Doctor Who again someday, but the issue shouldn't be forced for the sake of it happening.
Doctor Who returns with a Christmas Day special in 2026.