And don’t forget, Dr. Song looks damn good in a space suit.
Yeah, definitely a Predator 2 vibe going on there.
Now that I think about it, didn’t River say something again about “her” doctor, which implies this is not her doctor.
The time space continuim is giving me a headache.
Well, she recognized this one right away. She didn’t recognize Tennant.
Whatever happens, I really don’t expect to see River Song beyond the Matt Smith years.
-Joe
I thought she did recognize Tennant. Which seems a bit strange, since she only met that Doctor the once, right? I think we have to see her after Matt Smith is gone to explain her nonchalance at seeing him with a different face. But I strongly suspect that you’re right, that we won’t.
I’m pretty sure she recognized him but hadn’t seen the face before. She could simply tell who he was.
I have a lame theory that, apart from possibly being a Time Agent (hence the squareness gun and her ability to leap into whatever timeline the Doctor wants her to using her wrist strappy doodad whose name I forget, just like Captain Jack Harkness has) River Song was simply one of his companions from a future regeneration. Not his wife or girlfriend or a relative or a Time Lady.
In “Time of the Angels” she claims to have a “spotter’s guide” with all his faces so she can recognize him anywhere and anywhen.
Except that in “Silence of the Library”/“Forest of the Dead” The Doctor says she knows his name, and he never tells anyone his real name… which means River Song has to be unusually significant.
No, that’s just speculation. She tells him something, we don’t know what, which causes shock. It may be something other than his name, that a companion might find out in some secondary way.
No, The Doctor actually states that she spoke his name, in the episode “Forest of the Dead”. He’s quite explicit that that is what she said. I’d be happy to link to it, except there are no legal copies on line that I’m aware of. It’s slightly past 1 minute in scene #16 if you have a DVD copy to look at.
Yeah, I was disappointed by that. Time Lords can generally recognize each without regard to regeneration. I liked the idea that sh had somehow gotten to know him well enough that she recognized him the same way, such that a completely new body and personality didn’t faze her any more than a new shirt on your spouse–she didn’t even notice he was different. (As, indeed, she didn’t seem to!)
Found a site with the relevant quotes from “Forest of the Dead.”
Professor River Song: Doctor, one day I am going to be someone you trust completely but I can’t wait for you to find that out, so I’m going to prove it to you and I’m sorry. I’m really very sorry.(she leans over and whispers something in his ear). Are we good? Doctor, are we good?
The Doctor: Yeah, we’re good.
Professor River Song: Good.
and
The Doctor: River, you know my name. You whispered my name in my ear. There’s only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There’s only one time I could…
Professor River Song: Hush now. Spoilers.
Darn. It’s been so long, I forgot.
That’s what he said.
So the Doctor screams his own name at climax?
The reviews for this episode are pretty bad.
This one is even worse.
Except if you read the review it’s actually fairly complimentary.
That one basically just says that the reviewer didn’t understand any of it, which says more about him than the show.
Personally I think this is the sort of writing about time travel that should have been done long ago. Yes, it’s all wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey but when you’re hopping around time and space these things happen and it’s hard to follow in a linear fashion. I’ve always thought it would be nice to see future Doctors appearing (even as cameos) in episodes, just to keep in the spirit of the thing. Heck, it would be cool to do an “N-Doctors” episode where you see it once from one Doctor’s perspective and then, post-regeneration, get the rest of the story from the next Doctor’s viewpoint.
Doctor Who defies all critics. If the kids don’t like it, then they’ll act. But I am certain the kids are overjoyed by the darkness and the timey-wimey stuff.
River Song is presumably human. I can see her needing a “spotter’s guide” - if she was even serious, she might have been joking after all - no matter how well she gets to know The Doctor. Gallifreyans may have some way of recognizing each other that humans simply don’t. Maybe they can smell each other, maybe it’s psychic, who knows?
Did River recognize him before or after she he did something distinctive, like introducing himself, showing the sonic screwdriver, or introducing Donna?
-Joe