Spoilers! Alex Kingston will return to Doctor Who as River Song for this year's Christmas special.

The festive special will begin shooting this week, with Douglas Mackinnon directing from a script by Steven Moffat.

BBC



A plot teaser for the untitled hour-long adventure reads: "It's Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband's new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas."



"To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special," said Kingston. "Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humour and surprise guest castings.

"I met Peter for the first time at Monday's read through, we had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team."



River Song has appeared in 15 Doctor Who episodes to date, most recently 2013's 'The Name of the Doctor'.



The character's relationship with the Doctor is complicated by time travel, with the pair meeting up at different points in their personal timelines.

"The last time the Doctor saw [River] she was a ghost," said Steven Moffat. "The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it's a matter of time."

More cast for the Doctor Who Christmas special - confirmed to be airing in its traditional December 25 slot - will follow in the coming months. Doctor Who will return to BBC One for a new 12-part series from Saturday, September 19.

Alex Kingston to reprise River Song for new Doctor Who audio plays

Watch the cast of Doctor Who talk series 9 below:

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