River Song Returns

Actress Alex Kingston tells SFX why she loved getting to play an intergalactic Indiana Jones once more in Doctor Who

“I’ve decided that she’s like a female Indiana Jones, because she’s a time-travelling archaeologist – and you don’t get to play those sort of roles very often at my age,” says Alex Kingston of her Doctor Who character River song, who returns in the first two-part story of the Matt Smith era, “The Time Of Angels”/“Flesh And Stone”. “I always wanted to be Sigourney Weaver in Aliens . I was just so envious of her for having that kind of role.”

River Song, as we know from her previous appearance in the show, has some great, secret significance in the Doctor’s future, but according to Kingston in an interview in the next issue of SFX , Steven Moffat still hasn’t let on what that is. “No, he hasn’t,” she reveals, “but I know it! I think…”

“I was quite surprised to return, because I thought I’d died in the last episode that I did. Steven wrote the ‘Silence In The Library’ episodes and I love his writing. I just find it really complex, and I think it satisfies so many different generations of viewers.”

Read more of this exclusive interview, including why she finds Matt Smith so sexy, bandy legs and all, in SFX #195, on sale Wednesday 7 April.

Dave Golder
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.