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99-622: River Song is a fictional character created by Steven Moffat and played by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who . River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor , an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS . Because River Song is a time traveller herself, her adventures with the Doctor occur out of synchronisation; their first meeting (from

198-456: A BAFTA award in its second series. During production of the second series of Press Gang , Moffat was experiencing an unhappy personal life as a result of the break-up of his first marriage. The producer was secretly phoning his friends at home to check on his state. His wife's new lover was represented in the episode "The Big Finish?" by the character Brian Magboy ( Simon Schatzberger ), a name inspired by Brian: Maggie's boy. Moffat brought in

297-620: A Master of Arts degree in English from Glasgow, he worked as a teacher for three and a half years at Cowdenknowes High School, Greenock . In the 1980s he wrote a play entitled War Zones (performed at the 1985 Glasgow Mayfest and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ) and a musical called Knifer . He is an atheist . Moffat's father Bill was a head teacher at Thorn Primary School in Johnstone , Renfrewshire ; when

396-584: A Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special for " His Last Vow " (2014), and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie for executive producing " The Abominable Bride " (2016). In June 2015, Moffat was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to drama. In January 2016, Moffat announced he was stepping down as Doctor Who lead writer and executive producer after

495-663: A 24-year-long night with her, before her first meeting with the Tenth Doctor. From the timeline perspective, the final time River meets with the Doctor, she is a hologram/echo from the library archives; she and the Eleventh Doctor part ways in the episode, " The Name of the Doctor ". River Song was created by Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat for the show's fourth series in 2008, under the tenure of then executive producer Russell T Davies . When Moffat took over Davies' duties as executive producer, he began expanding on

594-707: A clone of River created at Demon's Run , whom River regards as a sister. On 4th April 2024, Big Finish announced a brand new series featuring River Song, with Kingston reprising the role. The first volume of The Death & Life of River Song was released in August 2024, depicting River's post-mortem adventures as a data ghost (as seen in The Name of the Doctor ) downloaded into a cloned body. Kingston frequently appears as River in other Big Finish audio ranges, such as regular appearances in Doom Coalition , and later

693-602: A contemporary update of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes stories called Sherlock . Vertue advised them to work on the project rather than spend years discussing it. A 60-minute pilot, written by Moffat, was filmed in January 2009. The pilot was not aired but a three-episode series of 90-minute television films produced by Hartswood was commissioned. Production on Moffat's time in charge of Doctor Who began in July 2009. As executive producer and lead writer, he

792-707: A guest appearance in its sequel series, Ravenous . In November 2020, Big Finish released The Tenth Doctor and River Song - a special release featuring River Song teaming up with the Tenth Doctor ( David Tennant ) for three new adventures. Kingston would later join the cast of The Tenth Doctor Adventures for the concluding part of its Dalek Universe saga, while Tennant would make an uncredited cameo in volume eight of Diary . Marking International Women's Day 2019, River appears in an episode of The Eighth of March where she teams up with former companion Leela ( Louise Jameson ). River also guest stars in series eight of

891-480: A hands-on capacity; an executive producer usually supervises the creative content, plans and schedules the filming with the producer and team, and may be involved in the financial budgeting of a production. Some writers, like Aaron Sorkin , Stephen J. Cannell , Tina Fey , and Ryan Murphy , have worked as both the creator and the producer of the same show. As in film, executive producer credits in television are also commonly applied to individuals who are involved in

990-867: A man to save them." For her role as River Song in the 2011 series of Doctor Who , Alex Kingston won the Best Actress prize at the 2012 SFX magazine Awards. In a 2012 poll conducted by SFX magazine to find the 100 sexiest female characters in science fiction and fantasy, River was voted number 22. She was also included in AfterEllen.com 's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters, at number 44. Character Options have also released official toys based on River Song as part of their Doctor Who range. Upon being notified of her own action figure, Kingston stated she did not "quite believe it" as "you don't get that on ER ." Conversely, Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com felt that River's character had an existence that revoles around

1089-488: A phase in which they tried to find Doctor Who titles with rude acronyms "to wind up people on internet message boards", with one of Moffat's being "A River Song Ending"; when Davies asked "What's a river song?", Moffat decided to make this the name of a character who dies. They eventually changed the title to "Forest of the Dead", being unwilling to actually broadcast an episode with the acronym " ARSE ". When Kingston returned to

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1188-399: A project, while others are involved in name only. The crediting of executive producers in the film industry has risen over time. In the mid-to-late 1990s, there were an average of just under two executive producers per film. In 2000, the number jumped to 2.5 (more than the number of standard "film producers"). In 2013, there were an average of 4.4 executive producers per film. One reason for

1287-601: A quite a while". In a 2019 interview with Radio Times , Kingston described the Doctor as River's second wife, with " Cleopatra being the first". An article published in Metro , entitled "Doctor Who fans love River Song...", noted how praise from fans on Twitter after the airing of "Day of the Moon" focused heavily on Song. In 2011, Laura Pledger of Radio Times listed Kingston as the fourth best Doctor Who guest star, writing, "For my money we’ve seen rather too much of River in

1386-496: A script for the first film. Moffat told The Guardian in 2012 that Spielberg was "lovely" about his decision to walk away from his three-film Tintin contract to return to Doctor Who . The script for the first film in the trilogy, The Adventures of Tintin (released in 2011), was completed by Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish , with a part of Moffat's script used in the film. During their journeys from London to Cardiff for Doctor Who , Moffat and writer Mark Gatiss conceived

1485-499: A sitcom. Inspired by his experience working in education, Moffat's initial proposal was a programme similar to what became Chalk , a sitcom set in a school that eventually aired in 1997. During the pitch meeting at the Groucho Club , Ptaszynski realised that Moffat was talking passionately about his impending divorce and suggested that he write about that instead of a school sitcom. Taking Ptaszynski's advice, Moffat's new idea

1584-416: A toehold" in the 2007 series. Jekyll aired on BBC One from June 2007. In March 2008, Davies said that he often rewrote scripts from other writers, but did not "touch a word" of Moffat's episodes. In October 2007, Reuters reported that Moffat would be scripting a trilogy of films based on Belgian artist Hergé 's character Tintin for directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson . In May 2008,

1683-427: A warm bond." About working with Kingston, Catherine Tate said, "I'm a huge ER fan. When you hold people in awe, it's almost a disappointment when they come in and they're utterly normal. But Alex isn't disappointing at all. She's such a lovely person." David Tennant was quoted as saying, "Alex is terrific. When she's telling you stories about hanging out with George Clooney , you know she's pretty cool." The character

1782-510: A weapon against the Doctor. " Let's Kill Hitler " establishes that Melody was trained by the Silence to kill the Doctor. At some point after regenerating in New York, Melody becomes Rory and Amy's childhood friend Mels (Maya Glace-Green) and grew up with them, and enlightened them to their romantic feelings for each other and ensuring her own existence. When adult Mels ( Nina Toussaint-White )

1881-556: A woman who romances and marries a man who unintentionally moves through time. Niffenegger's lovers experience an asynchronous and tragic love story. He comments, "I've quite purposefully used it", though he cites his 2006 episode " The Girl in the Fireplace " as the episode which most prominently explores the book's themes in addition to its conceit . Kingston herself compares the character to Niffenegger's titular Time Traveler's Wife, and like Moffat enjoys "backtracking" more and more with

1980-515: Is a direct consequence of him abiding by "Captain Jack's label-eschewing motto": "You people and your quaint little categories". James Cornish of WhatCulture subsequently cited River's characterisation in a rebuke against claims of misogyny and homophobia in Moffat's writing. He described her as "a more sexual, trigger happy version of the Doctor" and "the strongest female character seen on Doctor Who for

2079-568: Is a professor of archaeology and a free woman, having been released from the Stormcage Prison after the Doctor erased all evidence of his existence. When her parents are sent permanently back in time by the Weeping Angels , to be forever parted from the Doctor, she arranges for Amy to leave the Doctor a message in the form of an epilogue in a book they have been reading written by her in the 1930s. Although she agrees to travel with

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2178-413: Is established that she regularly breaks out of prison to go on dates and adventures with him with the aid of hallucinogenic lipstick (used on the guards) and other tricks. River appears again in the fifth episode of the seventh series , titled " The Angels Take Manhattan " (2012), where she encounters the Doctor and her parents, Rory and Amy, in 1930s New York City. At this later point in her timeline, she

2277-634: Is killed by an assailant in a space suit, and the trio give him a Viking funeral , in Lake Silencio. In 1969, the present Doctor and company subsequently encounter a little girl (Sydney Wade) who wears the space suit, which River tells the Doctor is a life support unit; the suit has been designed by the hypnotic aliens known as the Silence . Homeless, the girl is later shown regenerating in New York City, 1970. In " A Good Man Goes to War ", it

2376-427: Is not a story that ends well for River and she knows it, whatever flirtatious high spirits being around The Doctor stirs in her." Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker felt the character to be the Doctor's "soul mate" and described Alex Kingston as "badass". Neela Debnath of The Independent praised Nina Toussaint-White in her role as Mels, saying she was "every bit as sassy and vivacious as her later incarnation... it

2475-399: Is not above ruthless behaviour as she goes about her work. He also discovers that she truly loves him, but that she also genuinely believes that he does not love her back. She feels that the Doctor is above such petty emotions as love, and that he would never willingly jeopardise himself simply to help her. River ultimately discovers that the man she's been having this adventure with is actually

2574-560: Is one of two main playable characters in the PlayStation 3 Doctor Who console game The Eternity Clock . Kingston provided voice acting and motion capture physical acting for the character. In regard to River's role in the narrative of the game, the game's producer Simon Harris explains that she "realises that what’s in her diary is not what she wrote and that actually the Eternity Clock is playing with her history, as well as

2673-436: Is responsible for business decisions and more recently, organizing the recordings along with the music producer, whereas the record producer makes the music. Sometimes the executive producer organizes the recording and selects recording-related crew, such as sound engineers and session musicians . In the video game industry , the title "executive producer" is not well-defined. It may refer to an external producer working for

2772-632: Is revealed that River is Amy and Rory's daughter Melody (Harrison and Maddison Mortimer), who was conceived in the TARDIS while it was in the Time Vortex and consequently carries Time Lord DNA. The name River Song comes from a recursive translation of Melody Pond via the language of the Gamma Forests, which have no ponds, only rivers, hence the translation of "Pond" to "River." Baby Melody is kidnapped by Madame Kovarian ( Frances Barber ) to become

2871-638: Is shortly to die in the Library adventure where he first met her. (It is later revealed in "The Husbands of River Song" that the Eleventh Doctor ultimately cancelled this date, and it is the Twelfth Doctor who ends up taking River to the Singing Towers.) River appears in a further direct-to-DVD mini-episode included with the series 7 box set, "Rain Gods". River, alongside Smith's Eleventh Doctor,

2970-409: Is shot, and regenerates into her next incarnation (Alex Kingston), she proceeds to do what she was created for: assassinate the Doctor. Persuaded she will one day become River Song, who the Doctor cares deeply about and places in great trust, Melody chooses to resurrect the Doctor with her own regenerative energy, losing any future regenerations. The Doctor learns, however, that it is she who kills him in

3069-604: The 2017 series , his sixth series as showrunner, with Chris Chibnall succeeding him at the start of the eleventh series for broadcast in 2018. The fourth and most recent series of Sherlock finished production around August 2016, and aired in January 2017. " Twice Upon a Time "—the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special , and Moffat's last episode as lead writer and showrunner—finished production in July 2017 and broadcast on Christmas that year. In March 2024, Moffat confirmed his return to writing for Doctor Who in Series 14 . On

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3168-702: The BAFTA Craft Award for Best Writer, and a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter. Between Doctor Who episodes, Moffat wrote and produced Jekyll , a modern-day drama series based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde , meaning he nearly missed out on writing for the 2007 series of Doctor Who . Written late in the series' run, he quickly based "Blink" on his previously-written Doctor Who short story from 2005, "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow", as "a desperate way to keep

3267-684: The HBO sci-fi romance mini-series The Time Traveler's Wife (2022), and the ITV comedy-drama Douglas Is Cancelled (2024). In 2024, he returned to Doctor Who to write two episodes for Davies' second tenure as showrunner. Moffat was born in Paisley, Scotland , where he attended Camphill High School . He studied at the University of Glasgow , where he was involved with the student television station Glasgow University Student Television. After gaining

3366-464: The TARDIS than he is and reveals to the Doctor that she is imprisoned in the "Stormcage Containment Facility" for killing "the best man I've ever known." An earlier version of River appears to assist the Doctor in the fifth series finale " The Pandorica Opens "/" The Big Bang ". After being contacted by Winston Churchill ( Ian McNeice ), River leads the Doctor to 102 A.D. While River is travelling in

3465-416: The Tenth Doctor ( David Tennant ) in the 51st century and, though he has never met her, claims to be someone he will come to trust completely. River, who is a professor of archaeology and carries a TARDIS-colour/pattern diary of her adventures, is able to convince the Doctor of his future trust in her by whispering his real name into his ear, which he explains he would only divulge under rare circumstances. At

3564-563: The UNIT – The New Series range; the anniversary release The Legacy of Time , where she meets fellow time-travelling archaeologist companion Bernice Summerfield ( Lisa Bowerman ); and the special release Peladon . In 2020, Kingston appeared in the final episode of The Lives of Captain Jack , which saw a team up between River and Captain Jack Harkness ( John Barrowman ). Marking the sixtieth anniversary of Doctor Who, Kingston appeared in

3663-713: The 1996 Virgin Books anthology Decalog 3: Consequences . Between marriages, Moffat claims that he "shagged [his] way round television studios like a mechanical digger." According to an interview with The New York Times , Moffat met television producer Sue Vertue at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1996. Vertue had been working for Tiger Aspect , a production company run by Peter Bennett-Jones . Bennett-Jones and his friend and former colleague Andre Ptaszynski , who had worked with Moffat on Joking Apart , told Moffat and Vertue that each fancied

3762-459: The 25th December 2015, coinciding with River Song's return to television in The Husbands of River Song . The series depicts River's adventures as a time-travelling archaeologist and concluded following its twelfth volume in August 2023, with Big Finish indicating that Kingston would continue to play River Song in other audio ranges. Many characters from Doctor Who make guest appearances over

3861-575: The BBC announced that Moffat would be succeeding Davies as lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who for the show's fifth series , to be broadcast in 2010, although Davies had initiated discussions with Moffat regarding this as far back as July 2007. He had intended to complete work on the Tintin trilogy before resuming work on Doctor Who , but delays caused by the intervening 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike meant he could only submit part of

3960-459: The BBC sci-fi television series Doctor Who (2010–17), and for co-creating and co-writing the BBC crime drama television series Sherlock (2010–17). In the 2015 Birthday Honours , Moffat was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama. Born in Paisley, Scotland , Moffat, the son of a teacher, was formerly a teacher himself. His first television work

4059-512: The Dead", River's blaster gun is the one previously owned by Jack in the 2005 series of Doctor Who . Upon River's return in series five, Lyle Masaki of AfterElton felt that viewers had the chance to see the character "do her best to channel Captain Jack" by capturing the same "'charming rogue' vibe". In May 2012 Moffat stated that River, like Jack, is bisexual . Heather Hogan, a senior editor of AfterEllen felt that Moffat's ability to create "fascinating, complicated characters like... River Song"

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4158-426: The Doctor (2011) references River throughout, with River appearing in the mini-episodes "First Night" and "Last Night". The serial helps explain the depth of the relationship shared by River and the Doctor – despite only appearing in 15 (14 plus one flashback, as of 2016) episodes of the television series – when Amy Pond discovers that the Doctor goes on dates with River when Amy and Rory sleep at night in

4257-418: The Doctor as she is supposed to, creating an alternate reality in which time has frozen and all realities are occurring at once. In order to restart time and repair reality, the two of them must touch. The Doctor marries River and convinces her to repair the timeline by letting her know that he plans to fake his own death and how. River goes to prison for his murder in order to corroborate the deception, though it

4356-544: The Doctor but he finds himself strangely attracted to her" and that "what makes her a great companion is that when she turns up all hell breaks loose!". River's characterisation has invited parallels with that of Jack Harkness ( John Barrowman ), a companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors introduced by Steven Moffat in 2005. According to Moffat in the Doctor Who Confidential episode accompanying "Forest of

4455-440: The Doctor for her in the event of her death. Coinciding with the 2010 series, Alex Kingston portrays River Song narrating the "Monster Files" on the BBC website, an in-universe documentary account of Doctor Who monsters. This series had previously (in 2008–09) been narrated by John Barrowman in character as Captain Jack Harkness . Included with the series six DVD release, the exclusive-to-DVD bonus five-part serial Night and

4554-446: The Doctor for the time being, she declines his offer of being a full-time companion. In " The Name of the Doctor " (2013), the deceased River's consciousness is summoned from the Library computer, where she has existed since "Forest of the Dead", into a psychic 'conference call' by the Doctor's friend Madame Vastra ( Neve McIntosh ). There, she and Clara ( Jenna Coleman ) learn that the Doctor's grave has been discovered. River maintains

4653-457: The Doctor has been deftly handled, stating that "I'm not sure you'd get that kind of dynamic in America". For Kingston, the physical age difference between herself and Matt Smith adds to the success of the pairing, whilst she feels that viewers have responded warmly to the notion of an action hero in her 40s. Matt Smith has noted that in his characterisation of the Doctor that "River Song frightens

4752-436: The Doctor in all his regenerations, the Doctor reveals that he could see River all along, but had been avoiding confronting her continued existence because it was too painful for him to bear. After he kisses her, River feels closure and fades away. However, before disappearing River points out that her continued presence indicates that Clara has not been destroyed by entering his time stream, and, therefore, he can save her. When

4851-518: The Doctor next encounters River, in " The Husbands of River Song " (2015), as the Twelfth Doctor ( Peter Capaldi ), she does not initially recognise him and he is able to learn more about what she is like when he is not around. The Doctor accompanies River (from her perspective, shortly after "The Angels Take Manhattan") on a scheme to obtain a rare diamond. He learns that in addition to him, River has had several spouses, both male and female, and

4950-466: The Doctor that they might be married and tells him that he will soon learn the truth about her, after which "everything changes". In 2011 series opener " The Impossible Astronaut "/" Day of the Moon ", River, along with Amy and her husband Rory ( Arthur Darvill ), is contacted by a future version of the Doctor to meet up in the United States. As they enjoy a lakeside picnic, this future Doctor

5049-410: The Doctor". However, she called her one of the "great modern Mary Sue -type characters, and I wouldn't have it any other way." Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat OBE ( / ˈ m ɒ f ə t / ; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of

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5148-506: The Doctor, criticising the character as having "no ambitions of her own, no purpose", and felt that River's subsequent characterization throughout Smith's tenure "diminishes River, makes her so much less than she seemed in the beginning, an adventurer with her own plans and dreams, someone who the Doctor had to respect and acquiesce to on occasion." Princess Weekes from The Mary Sue had mixed feelings about River's personality and criticized how "River's entire existence literally revolves around

5247-447: The Doctor, with a new face she doesn't have a record of, thinking he only had 12 regenerations and that she'd already seen his last one. The pair later crash-land on the planet Darillium, where River had told the Doctor in "Forest of the Dead" that they would have their last night together. He uses time travel to ensure a perfect date, gives her the sonic screwdriver that she had in "Silence in the Library", and comforts her by revealing that

5346-596: The Earth’s history." Author Gary Russell had planned to use River in the Twelfth Doctor novel The Big Bang Generation , but when he was unable to get permission to use her due to Steven Moffat planning on the 2015 Christmas special " The Husbands of River Song " being the Twelfth Doctor and River's first meeting, Moffat suggested that Russell write the story to incorporate the Seventh Doctor 's former companion Bernice Summerfield instead. Alex Kingston has reprised

5445-507: The TARDIS on her own, it explodes with her inside. The Doctor, using River's vortex manipulator , teleports her out. After the Doctor erases himself from history by flying the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS in order to close the cracks in the universe, River helps Amy Pond ( Karen Gillan ) to remember the Doctor and bring him back, by giving Amy her now-blank diary. At the close of the series five finale, River ambiguously suggests to

5544-463: The TARDIS. During the serial, the Doctor attempts to take River on a date shortly after she is imprisoned in Stormcage, but their time in the TARDIS is interrupted by two future incarnations of River, and all are in turn suspicious of the signs of "another woman" being aboard the TARDIS. The Doctor is able to be rid of the two future Rivers, but not before learning from his future self that one of them

5643-508: The U.S. version, also titled Coupling , although this was less successful and was cancelled after four episodes on the NBC network. Moffat blamed its failure on an unprecedented level of network interference. In December 2003, Moffat received an email offering him to write for Doctor Who , following the announcement of the revival of the series in September. His involvement with the series

5742-489: The audience's perspective) is with the Tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant ), the Doctor's first and apparently her last. Kingston plays her in 15 episodes, as River becomes a companion, romantic interest and eventual wife of the Doctor in his eleventh incarnation portrayed by Matt Smith . From a production perspective, the Twelfth Doctor (played by Peter Capaldi ) is the last incarnation to meet her, spending

5841-453: The character as being "like a female Indiana Jones " with regard to both characters being archaeologists and having action hero qualities. She also took inspiration from Sigourney Weaver 's portrayal of Ellen Ripley in the Alien film franchise commenting that she'd always been "so envious of her for having that kind of role." Kingston has also praised the way the love story between River and

5940-681: The character as the series progresses. The tragedy for Song highlighted by "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day of the Moon" is that she is progressing to a point where the Doctor will not know or trust her any more. Kingston comments, [What] Steven explained to me is that every time River sort of finds the Doctor, for whatever reason, she's never 100 percent sure which Doctor it is she's going to be meeting. And what they have already experienced together or not. So even when I come back, every time I meet Matt, I never quite know where we are in our relationship or what we have revealed or what we know about each other. Because time travel isn't linear. Kingston describes

6039-523: The character so that all sorts of unfortunate things would happen to him, such as having a typewriter dropped on his foot. By 1990, Moffat had written two series of Press Gang , but the programme's high cost along with organisational changes at backers Central Independent Television cast its future in doubt. As Moffat wondered what to do next and worried about his future employment, Bob Spiers , Press Gang ' s primary director, suggested that he meet with producer Andre Ptaszynski to discuss writing

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6138-456: The character's background, depicting adventures earlier in River's timeline, upgrading Alex Kingston from a guest star to a recurring actor in the series. Other actresses have subsequently portrayed younger versions of the character. When the character was first introduced, much about her origins remained a mystery. Following the character's initial appearance, Davies had described her as "one of

6237-482: The course of its run, including multiple incarnations of The Doctor and The Master , Madame Kovarian ( Frances Barber ), K9 ( John Leeson ), Proper Dave ( Harry Peacock ) and Jackie Tyler ( Camille Coduri ). Diary also introduces original recurring characters, such as Rachel (played by Kingston's real-life daughter, Salome Haertel), an android who becomes a surrogate daughter to River; Luke (Timothy Blore), an archeology student; and Brooke ( Nina Toussaint-White ),

6336-537: The early 2000s, Moffat refuses to even name the series, joking that he might get attacked in the street. After production wrapped on Chalk in 1997, Moffat announced to the cast that he was marrying Vertue. In late 1998, Moffat was approached by Vertue, a producer of Comic Relief , to write a comedic sketch based on the Doctor Who TV series to be aired across Comic Relief's 1999 telethon in several parts on BBC One . The sketch, The Curse of Fatal Death ,

6435-494: The end of the second episode, she sacrifices herself to save the people who were trapped in the Library's database, knocking out the Doctor before he can do the same. In turn, he is able to upload a copy of her consciousness into a computer, allowing her to live on in a virtual world with the archaeological team she was with in the Library. He achieves this via the use of a sonic screwdriver given to her by his future self. After Moffat took over from Davies as executive producer of

6534-400: The episode “ Boom ” he was credited as both writer and as an Executive Producer. In October 2018, BBC One and Netflix officially commissioned Dracula , a TV series written and created by Moffat and Gatiss based on Bram Stoker 's 1897 novel Dracula . In March 2019, Moffat revealed that the first night of production was about to start. The series began airing New Year's Day 2020, and

6633-402: The film, participate in the creative effort, or work on set. Their responsibilities vary from funding or attracting investors into the movie project to legal, scripting , marketing, advisory and supervising capacities. Executive producers vary in involvement, responsibility and power. Some executive producers have hands-on control over every aspect of production, some supervise the producers of

6732-600: The final episode of the Once and Future series. Kingston joined the main cast of The Ninth Doctor Adventures for its final volume in May 2024, in which River goes on several adventures with the Ninth Doctor ( Christopher Eccleston ). For the role of River Song, whom executive producer Russell T Davies described as "sort of the Doctor's wife", the production sought to cast Kate Winslet . One of Winslet's first acting roles

6831-461: The future. While she is recovering in bed, the Doctor gives her the blank TARDIS-shaped/coloured diary, and in an epilogue it is revealed that Melody (now River) wants to study archaeology. At the end of " Closing Time ", on the day she receives her doctorate, the Silence and Kovarian recapture her and trap her in the space suit in order to kill the Doctor as history will record. In the series six finale " The Wedding of River Song ", River refuses to kill

6930-413: The increase in executive producers per film is the desire to spread risk, whether due to increasing cost of film making for larger budget films, often met by multiple studios banding together, or alternatively the need to attract multiple smaller investors for lower budget independent films. In television, the executive producer credit is often applied to individuals who are involved with the production in

7029-534: The last two series, but there’s no denying Kingston has created a memorable character in Melody Pond." Keith Phipps for The A.V. Club compared the Doctor and River's romantic storyline to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story , "if a bit more elegantly, for my money—it echoes the plight of anyone who's watched a loved one fade into the shadowlands of dementia. This

7128-415: The modern-day drama series Jekyll , based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde . In May 2008, it was announced that Moffat would succeed Davies as showrunner, lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who . Around the same time, he dropped his contract with film director Steven Spielberg for a film trilogy based on artist Hergé 's character Tintin . Part of the lone script he wrote

7227-472: The most important characters" in the narrative, and "vital" to the Doctor's life. In series six (2011), Moffat's episodes unveil more about the character. It is not until the character's ninth appearance that it is revealed that River was born Melody Pond , the daughter of the eleventh Doctor's companions Amy Pond ( Karen Gillan ) and Rory Williams ( Arthur Darvill ), alongside whom Kingston had already appeared six previous times in series five and six of

7326-471: The nights on Darillium last "24 years", giving River a happy life spent with the Doctor before her impending death in the Library. In 2017 series opener " The Pilot ", a photograph of River is seen on the Doctor's desk in the university in which he is lecturing, beside a photograph of his granddaughter Susan Foreman . River is also referenced in the episode " Extremis ", and it is revealed that she ordered her employee Nardole ( Matt Lucas ) to keep an eye on

7425-566: The other. A relationship blossomed and they left their respective production companies to join Hartswood Films , run by Beryl Vertue , Sue's mother. The couple have two children together: Joshua and Louis Oliver. Before Moffat left Pola Jones for Hartswood, Ptaszynski produced Chalk , the series that the writer had pitched to him at the beginning of the decade. Set in a comprehensive school and starring David Bamber as manic deputy head Eric Slatt and Nicola Walker as Suzy Travis,

7524-405: The production in a more hands-off capacity, such as the owner of the show's production company. In the case of multiple executive producers on a television show, the one responsible for day-to-day production is usually called the showrunner , or the leading executive producer. In recorded music, record labels distinguish between an executive producer and a record producer. The executive producer

7623-594: The psychic link with Clara after the call ends, and counsels her throughout the exploration of the Doctor's tomb, although she seems to be invisible to everyone else. When the Doctor and his companions are threatened by the Great Intelligence , she whispers the Doctor's name in order to open his tomb which is inside the TARDIS. After Clara enters the Doctor's time stream to save him from the Great Intelligence, who entered it first so he could destroy

7722-411: The role of River Song in multiple audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions , most notably in her own spin-off series The Diary of River Song . The series was announced on 27th June 2015, along with the news that Kingston would make a guest appearance as River in volume two of the ongoing The Eighth Doctor Adventures saga, Doom Coalition. Volume one of The Diary of River Song was released on

7821-589: The school was used for Harry Secombe 's Highway in the late 1980s, Bill mentioned to the producers that he had an idea for a television series about a school newspaper. The producers asked for a sample script, to which Bill agreed on the condition his son Steven write it. Producer Sandra Hastie said that it was "the best ever first script" that she had read. The resulting series was titled Press Gang , starring Julia Sawalha and Dexter Fletcher , and it ran for five series on ITV between 1989 and 1993, with Moffat writing all forty-three episodes. The programme won

7920-635: The show for its variety of settings and opportunities "to relive one's childhood fantasies" playing with laser guns and wearing varied costumes from one appearance to the next. With regard to having to speak complicated dialogue , she said, "I'd work with a medical consultant on ER , who'd explain what we were saying, so I'd say it with a purpose and a truth. On Doctor Who , I've no idea what some of my lines mean!" Discussing her role alongside Tennant and Catherine Tate ( Donna Noble ) in her 2008 introductory episode, Kingston said, "We just clicked. I've done guest roles on other shows, but rarely have I felt such

8019-503: The show was based on Moffat's three years as an English teacher. The studio audience responded so positively to the first series when it was taped that the BBC commissioned a second series before the first had aired. However, it was met less enthusiastically by critics upon transmission in February 1997, who had taken exception to the BBC's publicity department comparing the show to the highly respected Fawlty Towers . In an interview in

8118-400: The show, Moffat explained to her some details about her character's back-story, knowledge which Smith, Gillan and Darvill did not receive until later. Kingston relates that she knows her character cannot be killed off because we saw her death in her introductory episode; each subsequent appearance is set at a different point in her character's personal history. Moffat had planned out that River

8217-519: The show, River Song reappeared in the 2010 series . In the two-parter " The Time of Angels "/" Flesh and Stone ", which takes place prior to River becoming a professor, she encounters the Eleventh Doctor ( Matt Smith ), with whom she is more familiar. She leaves coordinates for the Doctor so that he may rescue her in the 52nd century, and together they investigate the crash of the spaceship Byzantium . She shows herself to be more adept at flying

8316-623: The show. Having been conceived on board the TARDIS as it travelled through the time vortex, Melody was born with genetic traits and abilities similar to those of the Doctor's own race, the Time Lords. River Song first appears in the Doctor Who 2008 series two-parter " Silence in the Library "/" Forest of the Dead " (which was written by future showrunner Steven Moffat ) during the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who . Here, she encounters

8415-520: Was "generally badass and mysterious". However, with " The Wedding of River Song ", Anders felt she had lost her mystery and independence, and her love for the Doctor was unrealistic. Whilst critical of the typical characterisation of British female science fiction characters, The Guardian ' s Krystina Nellis singles out River Song alongside Torchwood ' s Gwen Cooper ( Eve Myles ) as positive depictions of strong female characters, stating: "It'd be difficult to find two superwomen in less need of

8514-456: Was Amy and Rory's daughter for "a long time" and used "Pond" as Amy's last name to create a link between the two. For the filming of the sixth series, Kingston was aware of River Song's relationship to Amy and Rory, while the other cast only found out upon reading of the mid-season cliffhanger script for "A Good Man Goes to War". Moffat was influenced by Audrey Niffenegger 's science fiction romance novel The Time Traveler's Wife , which depicts

8613-476: Was a shame that she regenerated so early on because she brought a different energy to the character". However, Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph thought that her sudden introduction as Rory and Amy's childhood friend showed that Moffat was making it up as he went along. Charlie Jane Anders of io9 felt that River Song was at her "high point" in some of the early Matt Smith episodes, where she

8712-521: Was about "a sitcom writer whose wife leaves him". Moffat wrote two series of Joking Apart , which was directed by Spiers and starred Robert Bathurst and Fiona Gillies . The show won the Bronze Rose of Montreux and was entered for the Emmys . He wrote three episodes of Murder Most Horrid , an anthology series of comedic tales starring Dawn French . The first ("Overkill", directed by Spiers)

8811-563: Was announced in March 2004. He wrote six episodes under executive producer Russell T Davies for the 2005 through 2008 series , which were produced from December 2004 to March 2008. Moffat won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for the two-part story " The Empty Child " and " The Doctor Dances " (both 2005), as well as the episodes " The Girl in the Fireplace " (2006) and " Blink " (2007). "Blink" also gained him

8910-447: Was based upon the development of his relationship with television producer Sue Vertue . In March 2004, Moffat was announced as one of the writers for the revived Doctor Who TV series. He wrote six episodes during Russell T Davies ' first era as head writer, which aired from 2005 to 2008. Moffat's scripts during this era won him three Hugo Awards , a BAFTA Craft Award , and a BAFTA Cymru Award. Between episodes, he wrote and produced

9009-551: Was broadcast over three consecutive days. The three episodes were released on Netflix on 4 January 2020. On 13 February 2020, Chichester Festival Theatre announced that the play The Unfriend , written by Moffat, was intended to have its world premiere as part of the 2020 Festival Theatre season in the Minerva Theatre . However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the play's opening night was postponed until 26 May 2022. It

9108-998: Was directed by Mark Gatiss and featured Amanda Abbington , Frances Barber , Reece Shearsmith , and Michael Simkins. Following a successful run in Chichester, the play transferred to the Criterion Theatre , London, in January 2023, and thence, with Sarah Alexander as Debbie, and Lee Mack as Peter, to Wyndham's Theatre in January 2024. 43 episodes (1989–1993) "The Devil Wept in Leeds" (1990) 13 episodes (1991–1995) 12 episodes (1997) Comic Relief special (1999) 28 episodes (2000–2004) 50 episodes, 4 mini-episodes (2005–2017, 2024): 6 episodes (2007) Miniseries (co-written with Mark Gatiss , 2020) Miniseries (2022) Miniseries (2022) Feature film (co-written with Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish , 2011) Executive producer In films, executive producers may finance

9207-485: Was identified by the BBC as a "highlight" of the series. His other two episodes were "Dying Live" (dir. Dewi Humphreys) and "Elvis, Jesus and Zack" (dir. Tony Dow ). Moffat has been a fan of Doctor Who since childhood. In 1995, he contributed a segment to Paul Cornell 's Virgin New Adventures novel Human Nature . His first solo Doctor Who work was a short story, "Continuity Errors", published in

9306-579: Was in the BBC1 teen drama Dark Season , written by Davies. The role of River Song eventually went to Alex Kingston , known for starring in the popular US drama ER . On Kingston's casting, Davies said, "I bloody love her!" Kingston had been a fan of Doctor Who as a child. Kingston, when first cast, did not expect her role to be recurring. She later learned that Moffat had always intended for Song to come back for return appearances. Kingston enjoys getting to play an unusual action hero female role, and praises

9405-460: Was originally created purely for the plot of "Silence in the Library". Moffat knew that the team of archaeologists would have to trust the Doctor, but the Doctor's psychic paper could not explain and convince the team why he had appeared in a sealed-off library. Therefore, Moffat intended for the Doctor to know one of the archaeologists, but decided that idea was "dull" and instead decided to have one of them know him. Davies and Moffat were going through

9504-487: Was significantly involved in casting both Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor . As Doctor Who showrunner, Moffat won another Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for writing the two-part story " The Pandorica Opens " and " The Big Bang " (both 2010). As showrunner for Sherlock , he won a BAFTA Craft Award for Best Writer for " A Scandal in Belgravia " (2012),

9603-488: Was the teen drama series Press Gang . His first sitcom, Joking Apart , was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage. Later in the 1990s, he wrote Chalk , inspired by his own experience as an English teacher. Moffat, a lifelong fan of Doctor Who , wrote the comedic sketch episode The Curse of Fatal Death for the Comic Relief charity telethon, which aired in early 1999. His early-2000s sitcom Coupling

9702-510: Was used in Spielberg's film The Adventures of Tintin , eventually released in 2011. Moffat's work in the 2010s consisted mainly of his period as the head writer of Doctor Who during the fifth through tenth series , in which he won another Hugo, and Sherlock , which won Moffat a BAFTA Craft Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards . In the 2020s, he wrote the BBC and Netflix drama co-productions Dracula (2020) and Inside Man (2022),

9801-432: Was written from December 1998 to February 1999, recorded in February, and broadcast in March. When Vertue asked Moffat for a sitcom, he decided to base it around the evolution of their own relationship. Coupling , produced by Vertue, was first broadcast on BBC Two in 2000. Coupling ran for four series totalling 28 episodes until 2004, all written by Moffat. He also wrote the original, unbroadcast pilot episode for

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