River Song is one of the most popular characters in the history of Doctor Who. In past articles, we have discussed her at length from various angles. (Giggity… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.) Early on in our site’s existence, her sexuality was broached in our ‘Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity on Doctor Who‘ slideshow. She also a featured baby in our ‘Babies on Doctor Who‘ slideshow. We have speculated whether or not she would return and reported on Steven Moffat being open to the idea.

After the news about Moffat stating that there will eventually be a female Doctor, we discussed River as a prototypical template for the concept. With all of the controversy surrounding this, as well as The Master regenerating into Missy, it appears that there may be another storm on the horizon in the fandom of Doctor Who.

There is an unconfirmed report that River Song will be returning to Doctor Who, but regenerated as a male. This makes previous questions about the relationship and marriage between her and The Doctor seem like small potatoes (sorry, Strax). It is unclear whether River’s regeneration will happen on screen or off, so it may be that we will never see our beloved Alex Kingston in the role again.

The big question is, “Who will play the new River?” It is said that names being considered include Eddie Izzard, James Corden (Perhaps, River purposely regenerating in the form of Craig? How cheeky!), and Idris Elba, who, according to rumor, was at one point offered the role of The Doctor.

Another thing to consider is what sort of character the new River will be. Her personality has been shown to be quite consistent throughout her incarnations. Will a male River bring a whole new set of character traits? Also, will there still be an attraction between him and The Doctor? Will River even still be bisexual? Sexual orientation may not usually change that drastically for your average human, but it may, in some cases, for those with regenerative abilities.

With yesterday (March 31st) being the International Transgender Day of Visibility, it is an interesting time for this news to come about. It is very important to note, however, that Time Lord regenerative abilities are entirely fictional and not exactly analogous to the experiences of trans* people in real life. Some similar changes may occur, but there is a far different road that trans* folks travel, and for much different reasons. Hypothetically, of course, a Time Lord could be trans*, but it doesn’t seem as though they would have nearly the breadth of difficulties that real world trans* people from Earth have.

So, let us strive to spread awareness of trans* people, not just on one day of the year, but every day. And, if you are not already aware, River Song may be coming back to Doctor Who, but there are no actual reports or even rumors that it will be as a man. Happy April Fools’ Day, Sweeties!