Normally I'd be right behind such things, but I rather like the poignancy of The Doctor's first encounter with River being River's last encounter with The Doctor.
River's Journal--Chronicling Her Adventures With The Doctor
- Thread starter Admiral_Young
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Here's some thoughts on that question that I posted to a mailing list earlier today:
River is from the 51st century. So is Captain Jack Harkness. And the Time Agency is active in the 51st century. (We know this, because Jack worked for them.) No, I'm not suggesting that Jack knows River; it's a big universe and a big century. Instead, I'm going to suggest that the Time Agency could have been a front by the Time Lords during the Time War. What if the Time Lords were providing information to the Time Agency, letting the Time Agency either take care of small brushfires during the Time War? Or what if the Time Lords wanted the Time Agency as a kind of temporal cannon fodder? Another possibility is that the Time Agency got their hands on a wrecked TARDIS and figured out how to work it.
But if she were trying to make the Doctor jealous, then I don't know who it could be. The Doctor doesn't have romantic rivals. Unless it is Jack, but not the Time Agency Jack but the immortal Jack who has lived through from the 1880s to the 51st-century.
The completely-not-going-to-happen option would be Compassion, who was the Doctor's TARDIS in the novels. It would take too long to explain, and it's really really not going to happen. It's not even a possibility.
I just thought she was taking the piss because she knew the doctor's reaction, nothing more that. I doubt it's anything from those awful masturbatory books they were knocking out in the 1990s - thank god.
The Master...that's right The Doctor shagged The Master's companion
OR
In a massive middle finger to the fans: River is the last regeneration of the doctor.
Anyway...
We're taking her on face value cause she knows The Doctor's real name. It's entirely possible too that she some sort of obsessive fan or another Time War survivor that has become so obsessed with the Doctor that she scrounged every thin bit of data she could find about him.
The Doctor taught her. She was just teasing him.
i think she knows Ten through to Thirteen and that she's met them all over the place in her life and their's and that we may never know the entire story or the truth.
I agree with Kelso that River was taught by the Doctor and was just teasing him and maybe showing off a bit.
^ Or like most museums it might not have been on display during that particular exhibit.
[Fanboys]But-but-but what about the fact that her hair is more GINGER in her Tennant episode? How the hell did that happen??!?[/Fanboys]
Anyway, my theory is that the diary isn't hers. It either belongs to a future companion, or Amy Pond, or his actual future wife, etc. I imagine she might have some relationship with the Time Agency of the 51st Century. Is he meeting her all within the timeframe of her linear life? Or is she hopping time, too? What year was Silence in the Library set in? The same century as this one? So, really it's more The Doctor swinging in and out of her lifetime, than her going around time finding him. OR, she's a Time Agent, and she's playing a con. She will probably find herself turning good by the end, due to The Doctor's influence, and sacrificing herself (with him none the wiser of her identity) in the Library. Thus, her more earnest demeanor in SotL, than here. OR, maybe she's who Amy Pond grows up to be?
Or, I could be wrong?
Anyway, my theory is that the diary isn't hers. It either belongs to a future companion, or Amy Pond, or his actual future wife, etc. I imagine she might have some relationship with the Time Agency of the 51st Century. Is he meeting her all within the timeframe of her linear life? Or is she hopping time, too? What year was Silence in the Library set in? The same century as this one? So, really it's more The Doctor swinging in and out of her lifetime, than her going around time finding him. OR, she's a Time Agent, and she's playing a con. She will probably find herself turning good by the end, due to The Doctor's influence, and sacrificing herself (with him none the wiser of her identity) in the Library. Thus, her more earnest demeanor in SotL, than here. OR, maybe she's who Amy Pond grows up to be?
Or, I could be wrong?
[Fanboys]But-but-but what about the fact that her hair is more GINGER in her Tennant episode? How the hell did that happen??!?[/Fanboys]
Anyway, my theory is that the diary isn't hers. It either belongs to a future companion, or Amy Pond, or his actual future wife, etc. I imagine she might have some relationship with the Time Agency of the 51st Century. Is he meeting her all within the timeframe of her linear life? Or is she hopping time, too? What year was Silence in the Library set in? The same century as this one? So, really it's more The Doctor swinging in and out of her lifetime, than her going around time finding him. OR, she's a Time Agent, and she's playing a con. She will probably find herself turning good by the end, due to The Doctor's influence, and sacrificing herself (with him none the wiser of her identity) in the Library. Thus, her more earnest demeanor in SotL, than here. OR, maybe she's who Amy Pond grows up to be?
Or, I could be wrong?
Well she does know The Doctors "real" name which apparently is something he would never tell anyone except that mysterious person a very long time ago. So I figure if he told River his name then she can be trusted, at least as far as The Doctor is concerned.
Unless the name is in the diary. The diary is the key.[Fanboys]But-but-but what about the fact that her hair is more GINGER in her Tennant episode? How the hell did that happen??!?[/Fanboys]
Anyway, my theory is that the diary isn't hers. It either belongs to a future companion, or Amy Pond, or his actual future wife, etc. I imagine she might have some relationship with the Time Agency of the 51st Century. Is he meeting her all within the timeframe of her linear life? Or is she hopping time, too? What year was Silence in the Library set in? The same century as this one? So, really it's more The Doctor swinging in and out of her lifetime, than her going around time finding him. OR, she's a Time Agent, and she's playing a con. She will probably find herself turning good by the end, due to The Doctor's influence, and sacrificing herself (with him none the wiser of her identity) in the Library. Thus, her more earnest demeanor in SotL, than here. OR, maybe she's who Amy Pond grows up to be?
Or, I could be wrong?
Well she does know The Doctors "real" name which apparently is something he would never tell anyone except that mysterious person a very long time ago. So I figure if he told River his name then she can be trusted, at least as far as The Doctor is concerned.
I think you're all overthinking this.
I find the implications of such a non-linear relationship quite interesting. Right from its start, the Doctor knows how it will end, which gives the whole thing a tragic touch.
I wonder why Eleven was so annoyed by her. I assume that Ten met her again at some point before The End of Time and did something stupid which obliges all his later incarnations. Maybe the line 'Got married. That was a mistake.' at the beginning of The End of Time did apply to her, after all. That would explain why Eleven is so grumpy.
Another aspect, of course, would be the question whether their relationship is inevitable or not. It must be odd to be presented with the person you'll fall in love with before it happens.
I also wonder whether the Doctor has resisted the temptation or whether he actually did peak into the journal after he snatched it up at the end of Forest of the Dead.
I find the implications of such a non-linear relationship quite interesting. Right from its start, the Doctor knows how it will end, which gives the whole thing a tragic touch.
I wonder why Eleven was so annoyed by her. I assume that Ten met her again at some point before The End of Time and did something stupid which obliges all his later incarnations. Maybe the line 'Got married. That was a mistake.' at the beginning of The End of Time did apply to her, after all. That would explain why Eleven is so grumpy.
Another aspect, of course, would be the question whether their relationship is inevitable or not. It must be odd to be presented with the person you'll fall in love with before it happens.
I also wonder whether the Doctor has resisted the temptation or whether he actually did peak into the journal after he snatched it up at the end of Forest of the Dead.
I know it silly to thonk she is the Doctor in the future.. but here is that bit of wierd dialouge in the episode about the church banning people from marrying themselves.. A hint perhaps..lol
Also the dialouge of the Doctor going all baby face seems to indicate that 11 was not the version she hooks up with, really leaving only 12 or 13.
Also the dialouge of the Doctor going all baby face seems to indicate that 11 was not the version she hooks up with, really leaving only 12 or 13.
That's what I think too...
...and may have something to do with why she was in prison.
Wait though...if she's a Time Agent pulling a con again how does she know so many intimate details about the Doctor and how to operate a sonic screwdriver (granted I suppose she could have stolen it I suppose) not all Time Agents have to be cons, just Captain Jack 
I agree we are over thinking River but I find her so intriguing and we've been giving very little clues about her future. I would love a River Song spin off or one off.
I agree we are over thinking River but I find her so intriguing and we've been giving very little clues about her future. I would love a River Song spin off or one off.