The Wedding of River Song (TV story)

The Wedding of River Song was the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who

Synopsis
As the Doctor makes his final journey to the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah, he knows only one thing can keep the universe safe – his own death. But has he reckoned without the love of a good woman?

Plot
The Doctor, aware his death on 22 April 2011 at Lake Silenco is a fixed point in time, tracks down the Silence, to learn why he must die. He extracts from its memory banks everything a Dalek knows of the Silence. He meets the Teselecta shapeshifting robot and its miniaturized crew posing as one of its members, who lead him to the head of Dorium Maldovar. Dorium insists that the Doctor's death must happen lest he answer the oldest question in the universe. The Doctor accepts his fate. He gives the Teselecta invitations for Amy, Rory, and River Song to witness his death, fearing crossing his own time stream.

As in "The Impossible Astronaut", the Doctor joins his friends at Lake Silenco and approaches the astronaut, now shown to be a younger version of River Song, trained to kill the Doctor by the Silence and Madame Kovarian. She refuses to kill him, but the Doctor shows her her future self; it will be all right. River discharges her weapons harmlessly. Time becomes "stuck", and all of Earth's history happens all at once, fixed at 5:02pm 22 April 2011.

In a time-addled London, Winston Churchill takes his "soothsayer", the Doctor, from his locked cell to ask him about the stuck time. The Doctor explains this past event, but realises they have lost track of time, and tally marks are appearing on his arms. The Silence are nearby. They find a nest overhead and are rescued by Amy and an army of soldiers led by Rory (unaware of his marriage to Amy) equipped with "eyedrives" eye patches that help them to remember the Silence even after looking away. Amy takes the Doctor to "Area 52" in one of the Giza Pyramids, where they have captured more than a hundred Silence and hold Madame Kovarian as prisoner. River is also there, well aware her actions have wrecked time and refusing to allow the Doctor to touch her; that would cause time to become unstuck.

They soon realise that this was a trap arranged by Kovarian, as the Silence escape confinement and overload the eyedrives, killing and torturing their users. The Doctor and River escape to the top of the pyramid, while Amy and Rory fight off a wave of Silence. Madame Kovarian discovers her own eyedrive is being manipulated, and despite dislodging it, Amy forces it back in place, aware this will kill her. The two regroup with River and the Doctor. River tries to convince the Doctor that this stuck time is acceptable and that he does not have to die, but the Doctor insists that all of reality will soon break down. To show his commitment, he marries River Song on the spot, in exchange for her letting go of this stuck time. The two kiss, allowing reality to return to normal for Earth. As the original history showed, the Doctor is killed by River, an act she is sent to Stormcage prison for.

Some time later, Amy and Rory are pleased to see River, shortly after the events of "Flesh and Stone" in River's own timeline. When Amy explains she has recently witnessed the Doctor's death, River laughs, pointing out that the Doctor lies and thinks one step ahead of his enemies. The Doctor has enlisted the help of the Teselecta crew to have them take his place, with the Doctor joining them; River saw this the moment before she killed him, and realized he was still alive. The three celebrate this news. Elsewhere, the Doctor takes Dorium's head back to where it was stored; the Doctor explains that his perceived death will help wane the notoriety that his name has gained across the universe. As the Doctor turns to leave, Dorium warns him that the oldest question still awaits him, and taunts him with cries of "Doctor who?"

Cast

 * The Doctor – Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond – Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill
 * River Song/Melody Pond – Alex Kingston
 * Madame Kovarian – Frances Barber
 * Winston Churchill - Ian McNeice
 * Malokeh- Richard Hope
 * Charles Dickens - Simon Callow
 * Dr Kent - Emma Campbell-Jones
 * Gantok - Mark Gatiss
 * News anchor - Meredith Vieira
 * Dorium Maldovar -Simon Fisher Becker
 * Supreme Dalek voice - Nicholas Briggs
 * The Silence - Marnix Van Den Broeke

Crew
to be added

Story notes

 * A prequel for this episode was released online.
 * This is the first time an episode of Doctor Who has aired on the same night as an episode of fellow BBC Saturday night drama, Merlin. The first episode of Merlin Series 4, The Darkest Hour, was broadcast right after The Wedding of River Song.

Ratings
UK Overnight: 6.1 Million

Myths

 * The Doctor will get married. This was proven true.
 * Part of this episode will be set in Egypt. This was proven true.

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * When Dorium's head is upside down, part of the actor's skin can be seen under his chin (or round about).
 * The Doctor's reflection in River's helmet shield is not reversed, as it should be.
 * When The Doctor and River kiss, a clock is shown on screen, with time resuming from 05:02:00, but earlier in the episode, it was shown that time was frozen at 05:02:57

Continuity

 * Following his death in February, this episode pays tribute to Nicholas Courtney, with the Doctor discovering that his character, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, died peacefully in his sleep. This is consistent with the Seventh Doctor's assertion in DW: Battlefield that the Brigadier would die in bed. And as presented in this episode it does not contradict the post-2010 continuity established for the character in the Virgin New Adventures novels as no indication is given as to when the Brigadier died.
 * Charles Dickens appears. (DW: The Unquiet Dead)
 * Winston Churchill returns as the Holy Roman Emperor. (DW: Victory of the Daleks, The Pandorica Opens)
 * The Silurian scientist Malokeh returns. (DW: The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood)
 * Dorium Maldovar returns as a head. He was beheaded by the Headless Monks. (DW: A Good Man Goes to War)
 * The Doctor mentions his former companions Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness.
 * Amy's drawings include the Krafayis, the Saturnyns, the Silurians, the Daleks, the Minotaur, the Cybermen and the Smilers, as well as a self-portraits of herself from DW: The Curse of the Black Spot.
 * The Teselecta returns, as does its captain. (DW: Let's Kill Hitler)
 * The Doctor again sports a beard. (DW: Day of the Moon)
 * When talking to Amy after the timeline has been restored, River mentions climbing out of the Byzantium and still wears her combat clothes, as well as mentioning that she had just met her when Amy had no idea who she was. (DW: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone)
 * Amy is partially protected from some kinds of temporal changes due to her long term exposure to The Cracks. (DW: The Eleventh Hour, The Big Bang)
 * Amy is thoroughly disturbed when she realizes that she is her best friend's mother in-law, and technically has been since she was seven.
 * When River says to the Doctor that time can be rewritten, he responds with "Don't you dare." This echos what River says to the Doctor in a similar situation. (DW: Forest of the Dead)
 * River mentions "Rule #1, the Doctor lies." (DW: The Big Bang, Let's Kill Hitler)
 * A Silent calls Rory "the man who dies and dies again", referring to his deaths in Amy's Choice, Cold Blood, The Curse of the Black Spot, and The Doctor's Wife; Rory remarked "I'm dead, again," in Night Terrors.
 * When the Doctor meets River in Area 52, he greets her by saying "Honey, I'm home." River replies, "And what sort of time do you call this?" The two shared the same exchange in The Big Bang.

For the Doctor

 * This story occurs after DW: Closing Time
 * This story takes place during DW: The Impossible Astronaut
 * This story occurs before DW: Death is the Only Answer

For River

 * This story occurs after DW: Closing Time
 * This story takes place during DW: The Impossible Astronaut
 * This story occurs before DW: A Good Man Goes to War

For River in the final scene

 * This story occurs after DW: Flesh and Stone
 * This story occurs before DW: Silence in the Library

For Amy and Rory

 * This story takes place during DW: The Impossible Astronaut
 * This story takes place after DW: The God Complex

Home video releases
This episode will be released on DVD shortly after the airing of the episode.