Doctor Who Christmas Special: poster and plot details

The BBC recently released a new poster for the Doctor Who Christmas Special, featuring the return of Alex Kingston’s River Song. She and the Twelfth Doctor are seen facing off against a giant red suit of armor.

British comedians Greg Davies (Man Down) and Matt Lucas (Alice in Wonderland) have also been confirmed as members of the cast.

River Song is the Doctor’s time-travelling wife and also the daughter of former companions Rory and Amy Pond. She was last seen with Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and has yet to share a seen with the current Doctor, so her involvement in this Christmas episode has been highly anticipated. And she will certainly play a significant role in the special, considering it’s called The Husbands of River Song.

In an interview with the Radio Times, showrunner and episode-writer Steven Moffat discusses his decision to include River in the special:

“Obviously, we’ve just lost Clara so I didn’t want to go straight into a new companion, and it’s not right to set that up at the end of a series where you’re all exhausted. So, I’ll be honest, I brought River Song back in because I thought there’s a possibility I’d never write [Doctor Who] again so that’ll be my goodbye. But also I really fancied it.

I hadn’t written River for a couple of years and I’d always loved writing for her and I’d missed her. I thought, given that I’m knackered at the end of a series, what would be great for me would be getting Alex Kingston back onto Doctor Who.”

Here is the official synopsis of The Husbands of River Song:

“It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor is hiding from carols and comedy antlers. But when the Time Lord’s help is requested he finds himself recruited into River Song’s squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy! King Hydroflax (Greg Davies) is furious and his giant robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas) survive? And when will River work out who the Doctor is?

All will be revealed on a starliner full of galactic super-villains and at a destination the Doctor has been avoiding for a very long time…”

Don’t miss Doctor Who this Christmas on BBC One.