River Song Returning For 2015 Doctor Who Christmas Special

The BBC has announced that Alex Kingston will reprise her role as Professor River Song for the 2015 Doctor Who Christmas special.

Filming on the Christmas special begins this week. The episode will be the first meeting between Song and her husband since he regenerated into Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor.

Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat wrote the episode, which will be directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

Song first appeared in in the 2008 2-parter episode “Silence in the Library”/”Forest of the Dead.” She became a recurring guest star during Matt Smith’s time as the Eleventh Doctor, as audiences learned more about her and the Doctor’s time-inverted romance and marriage.

“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special,” Kingston said of Song’s return. “Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humour and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through, we had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September? Why not!”

“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song?” Moffat said. “The last time the Doctor saw her she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”

The 2015 Doctor Who Christmas special will air on Christmas Day. Doctor Who Series 9 premieres Sept. 19.