Theory:Timeline - River Song

This page lists appearances of River Song, aka Melody Pond in the order in which she experienced them. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur in each of these stories, as well as the narrative feature of CON: When Time Froze, River Song: Her Story, which states her entire history up to the airdate of that Doctor Who Confidential episode. We have attempted to build a concise timeline from these observations.

Limiting factors
to be added

Series basics
River Song has only appeared in a handful of Doctor Who media, mostly from series 5 and 6 of the television series, but she is noteworthy for having met the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor, as well as her parents, Amy Pond and Rory Williams in an anachronic order. As a result, the audience also sees her in an order different from how she experiences things. There are also several stories where as many as three Rivers at different points in her timestream, appear.

For the sake of clarity, her first incarnation will be referred to as "little girl" or "baby" to differentiate from her third, which dominates her appearances in the Doctor Who universe. Roman numberals will be used to designate the order of her appearances in episodes in which River appears multiple times from different points in her timeline.

Timeline

 * TV: A Good Man Goes to War (I)
 * As a three-week-old baby.


 * WC: Prequel (The Impossible Astronaut)
 * As a little girl, she leaves a distressed voice message for President Nixon in 1969.


 * TV: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon (I)
 * As a little girl in 1969 and 1970.


 * TV: Let's Kill Hitler (I)
 * Set decades after Day of the Moon. In a new incarnation and now going by the nickname "Mels", she's shown attending Leadworth Primary School with her parents.


 * COMIC: Imaginary Enemies
 * Mels fought Krampus and his minions during Year Three at Leadworth Primary School.


 * TV: Let's Kill Hitler (II)
 * Mels is shown as aging alongside her parents, appearing as a teenager and later a young adult. She reveals her true identity after being shot by Adolf Hitler and regenerates into her next incarnation who eventually embraces the alias River Song. After reviving the Doctor at the expense of her own regenerations, River is left at the Sisters of the Infinite Schism hospital.


 * GAME: The Eternity Clock
 * The first entry in River's diary is made the morning after she's admitted to the hospital.


 * TV: Let's Kill Hitler (III) (final scene)
 * River enrolls at Luna University in the year 5123.


 * TV: Closing Time (final scene)
 * River finishes her doctorate and is taken prisoner by Madam Korvarian and the Silence.


 * WC: Prequel (The Wedding of River Song)
 * TV: The Wedding of River Song (I)
 * TV: The Impossible Astronaut (II)
 * The Wedding of River Song directly follows Closing Time. Her scenes from The Wedding of River Song at 2011 Lake Silencio take place near her future self. The Impossible Astronaut overlaps these events. River is imprisoned at Stormcage following The Wedding of River Song.


 * HOMEVID: First Night/Last Night (I)
 * In First Night and Last Night we see multiple River Songs from different points in her time stream. One River is from early in her timeline, on the first night of her imprisonment in Stormcage. The second River has been in Stormcage for 5 years. The second River comments on the dress that the Doctor brings for the first River and asks him "does anyone agree to wear that dress?" River goes on to wear the dress in question first during the events of Day of the Moon and later for her date with the Doctor in Darillium. This places the events of The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon as more than five years into her prison sentence.


 * TV: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
 * River receives a phone call while still imprisoned in Stormcage in the year 5145. She escapes and acquires a vortex manipulator from Dorium Maldovar. It is presumably the same one she used to get to 1969 in The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, to get to Demon's Run in A Good Man Goes to War, and is seen wearing when she staggers into the Tardis after being chased by Sontarans in First Night and Last Night.


 * Note on the following stories: Other than their taking place after The Pandorica Opens and while River is still in Stormcage (except maybe Rain Gods), it is impossible to determine the order in which she goes to 1969, Demon's Run, the planet of the Rain Gods, picks a fight with some Sontarans, or experiences some of the events of The Eternity Clock. The order in which they are listed here makes a nice viewing order, but their exact chronology remains speculative. These stories are thus marked with an asterisk.


 * TV: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon (II)*
 * TV: The Wedding of River Song (II)*
 * In The Impossible Astronaut an older River witnesses the events at Lake Silencio in 2011 (the entirety of The Wedding of River Song overlaps this event), and helps him battle the Silence. Afterwards the Doctor returns her to her prison cell at Stormcage.


 * HOMEVID: First Night/Last Night (II)*
 * Five years into her imprisonment, River picks a fight with some Sontarans, staggers into the Tardis, and apparently faints. The Doctor sends her back to Stormcage. When she appears, she is wearing the same dress she changed into after diving into the Tardis swimming pool in Day of the Moon; presumably she got it at that time from the Tardis wardrobe.


 * TV: A Good Man Goes to War (II)*
 * In A Good Man Goes to War we see River speak to Rory at Stormcage, and we later see River show up at the end of the Battle of Demon's Run. The River who speaks to Rory at Stormcage is likely an older River then the River at Demon's Run, as she is able to reference Demon's Run in her diary. This appearance on the list is of the River who showed up after the battle.


 * GAME: The Eternity Clock *
 * River escapes from Stormcage wearing the same cat burglar outfit she was first shown wearing in The Pandorica Opens.


 * HOMEVID: Rain Gods *
 * River is shown wearing the grey dress she wore in Day of the Moon, in First Night/Last Night (five years into her imprisonment), and A Good Man Goes to War, suggesting that this likely takes place while she's still serving her prison sentence. However, note that the Doctor is wearing his purple frock coat, indicating that for him, it takes place sometime after The Bells of St. John.


 * TV: A Good Man Goes to War (III)*
 * The Doctor takes River to the last Winter Frost fair for her birthday. She encounters Rory afterwards and refuses to go with him to help save her infant self.


 * TV: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone
 * River is not yet a professor. She refers to the events of The Pandorica Opens to the Eleventh Doctor, who hasn't yet witnessed them and says that she is hoping to receive her pardon.


 * TV: The Wedding of River Song (III) (final scene)
 * Immediately follows the events of Flesh and Stone. River has received her pardon and goes to visit her mother.


 * PROSE: The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery
 * TV: The Angels Take Manhattan
 * River has been pardoned from Stormcage and is now a professor. The events of The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery lead up to The Angels Take Manhattan.


 * HOMEVID: Last Night (III)
 * In Last Night we see multiple River Songs and multiple Eleventh Doctors from different points in their respective time streams. One of the Doctors is taking River to the Singing Towers of Darillium, which is the last time River sees the Doctor before Silence in the Library.


 * TV: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
 * River dies in the Library, but has her data ghost uploaded to the computer.


 * TV: The Name of the Doctor
 * The River in this episode is the River stored in the Library's computer.

Unplaced

 * HOMEVID: Good Night (mentioned only)
 * HOMEVID: Bad Night (mentioned only)
 * COMIC: Pond Life
 * River visits her parents' house and they know that she is their daughter, placing this sometime after A Good Man Goes to War.