The Wedding of River Song (TV story)

The Wedding of River Song (TV story)

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The Wedding of River Song
Doctor:	[[doctor::Eleventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Amy Pond Rory Williams River Song Dorium Maldovar
Main enemy:	The Silence Madame Kovarian
Main setting:	Utah, April 22, 2011 London, 5:02pm, April 22 2011 Cairo, 5:02pm, April 22 2011 Nursing Home, c.2050s.
Key crew
Writer:	Steven Moffat
Director:	Jeremy Webb
Release details
Story number:	223
Release number:	Series 6
Premiere broadcast:	1st October 2011
Format:	1x 45 minute episode
Confidential:	[[confidential::When Time Froze|When Time Froze]]

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

Earth is in chaos. Pterodactyls roam the skies, hot air balloons carry cars and Charles Dickens is interviewed about A Christmas Carol on BBC Breakfast. But what's even stranger, is that Romans are in charge. And Winston Churchill is their Emperor. And Malokeh is his right hand man.

Winston talks to Malokeh about the fact that time never changes, and that it's always 5:02 PM. He then tells Malokeh to bring the soothsayer in- the Doctor. The Doctor has been trying to tell him that something has happened to time, and Winston has dismissed it and locked him up in the tower. Winston, now believing him, asks what happened, to which the Doctor replies "A woman."

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 Viera
• Dorium Maldovar -Simon Fisher Becker

Crew

to be added

References

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. As the first episode of Merlin Series 4, The Darkest Hour, was broadcast right after The Wedding of River Song.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

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

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

To be added

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.
• 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 confirming that 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.
• The Teselecta returns as does its captain. (DW: Let's Kill Hitler)
• The Eleventh Doctor once 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 thoroughly disturbed when she realizes that she is her best friend's mother in-in-law, and technically has been since she was 8.
• 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)

Timeline

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

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

For Amy in the final scene

• This story occurs after DW: The God Complex

Home video releases

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