One of Steven Moffat's greatest contributions to Doctor Who was the timey-wimey love story between the Doctor and River Song. However, the show only ever depicted that romance from the Doctor's perspective. We first meet her at the Library, as he did, and the story ends, so far, at Darillium.
But it's a bit more complicated to try to reconstruct the story from her point of view. In "The Impossible Astronaut," River told Rory, "We're travelling in opposite directions. Every time we meet, I know him more, he knows me less." While that is largely accurate, there are also adventures that break out of that reverse timeline, where they move forward together or break the order altogether.
There are several parts of the narrative that simply don't give enough information to be certain when they are supposed to have taken place. We do our best to follow the context clues, which largely involves what is written in River's diary, what she ominously warns people about, and whether or not she has a vortex manipulator.
Here, we break down the definitive order of how to watch Doctor Who from River Song's perspective. Since some episodes feature more than one version of her, they may appear more than once in the order. Feel free to go with our suggestion on when to watch it (marked by an asterisk), pick your own timeline, or simply rewatch the episodes each time they come up.
Episodic Viewing Order
- A Good Man Goes to War*
- The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
- Let's Kill Hitler
- Closing Time
- The Impossible Astronaut/The Wedding of River Song*
- First Night (minisode)
- Alternative Media
- The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang*
- A Good Man Goes to War
- The Big Bang
- A Good Man Goes to War (again)
- Rain Gods (minisode)
- Last Night (minisode)
- The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon*
- The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
- The Wedding of River Song (again)
- The Angels Take Manhattan
- The Husbands of River Song
- Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
- The Name of the Doctor
A Good Man Goes to War*
This is the episode where Melody Pond is born and stolen away from her family. While her later appearances in this episode will be mentioned elsewhere on this list, this is effectively her origin story and thus should be watched first in any chronological marathon.
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
From her infancy to her time as a young child, audiences don't get to see much from Melody. She reappears as a child in "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon," having been raised by the Silence and Madame Kovarian. She eventually escapes from them but is dying, resulting in her first regeneration.
Let's Kill Hitler
After regenerating in New York, Melody changes her name to Mels Zimmer and moves to Leadworth to grow up alongside her parents. This results in her eventually meeting the Doctor and trying to kill him. During this episode, she regenerates again into her most well-known form and then sacrifices her future regenerations to save his life.
Closing Time
The vast majority of this episode has nothing to do with River Song, so feel free to just watch its final scene. After achieving her doctorate, River has her first adult encounter with Madame Kovarian, who abducts her and traps her in the astronaut suit to kill the Doctor.
The Impossible Astronaut/The Wedding of River Song*
From here, the timeline fragments, with one version where River kills the Doctor and another where she doesn't. "The Wedding of River Song" is the better option to watch for her perspective, as it is theoretically the version that she remembers most, as well as being the version that she participates in most at this age.
While it is an ambivalent wedding, with fans fighting over whether the Doctor actually married River out of love or duty, there are so many great moments for their dynamic in "The Wedding of River Song." It takes their darkest moment, when she was forced to kill him against her will, and turns it into proof of her devotion to him.
First Night (minisode)
The "First Night" short features River Song's first night as a prisoner at Stormcage. The Doctor comes to pick her up for a date, explain the "rules" of their relationship, and inspire her to escape captivity more often. While it's a very short scene, it's an important start to their relationship proper, setting her on the path to becoming the badass audiences know and love.
Alternative Media
Everything before this point features a version of River Song that doesn't know as much as the Doctor. Most everything after features a version of her that knows more than he does. Because of that, audiences can assume that the bulk of their relationship took place in the middle here. However, those adventures aren't shown on screen, so fans will have to turn to extended media offerings like novels and audiodramas for the full story.
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang*
There is a lot going on for River in "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang," which means it is possible that there are multiple versions of her involved. But since there isn't much clear evidence of that, it's best to just watch it as one event. Here, River learns about the impending destruction of the TARDIS, acquires her vortex manipulator, and tries to help the Doctor through the Pandorica crisis.
A Good Man Goes to War
An adult version of River Song appears at the end of "A Good Man Goes to War" to scold the Doctor and reveal her true identity to him and her parents. While this theoretically could be a version of her from just about any point in time, she has a vortex manipulator, which she acquired during the events of "The Pandorica Opens," so it must have taken place after that (but before her conversation with the Doctor at the end of "The Big Bang").
The Big Bang
At the end of "The Big Bang," River delivers her diary to Amy to help her remember the Doctor. She then teases the Doctor about being married. While these scenes are certainly implied to have taken place at the same point on her timeline as the rest of that story, she tells the Doctor that he is going to learn who she really is soon, implying that the scene must take place for her after the events of "A Good Man Goes to War."
A Good Man Goes to War (again)
Although it's never outright stated, the version of River that Rory tries to convince to help is not the same version that appears later in the episode. She already knows that a version of her joins the fight too late, so it must take place later in her timeline. It also takes place at Stormcage, which means it has to fall before her parole in "The Time of Angels".
Rain Gods (minisode)
There aren't really any clues in the "Rain Gods" minisode about where in River's history it takes place, so we've placed it alongside similarly vague scenes. The minute-and-a-half long story is a random date between River and the Eleventh Doctor, and the only clue to its place in the timeline is that she is wearing the same dress as she wore in "A Good Man Goes To War." But it's a fun one to watch, and the chemistry is a good precursor to the more painful episodes where the Doctor doesn't know River's true identity.
Last Night (minisode)
This episode technically includes the version of River Song from "First Night," along with a version of River from about five years later, and another from even farther in the future. There isn't much information about where this later version falls in her timeline, except that she is on a date with the Eleventh Doctor, intending to visit the Singing Towers of Darillium (which he apparently cancels).
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon*
While one version of River was busy killing the Doctor, another version was part of the picnic with Amy and Rory in "The Impossible Astronaut." We don't know exactly when this takes place in her timeline, but it had to be after "The Pandorica Opens," because she already had her vortex manipulator.
However, the original conceit that their timelines were strictly opposite tells us that this had to be a very late meeting between River and the Doctor. There are multiple references to the Doctor not trusting River at this point, which clearly hurts her. Furthermore, they share a kiss at the end of "Day of the Moon," which he mentions is their first. She realizes it is likely their last from her perspective.
This turns out to not be true, but it still suggests that this scene falls late in her timeline, likely one of her last encounters with the Eleventh Doctor before her death.
The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone
Amy meets River for the first time in "The Time of Angels," but there are a lot of clues that it is late in River's personal timeline. She clearly knows the Doctor better than he knows her, but she doesn't seem upset by that fact. That means she's probably become used to him (and her mother) not recognizing her, putting it after most of their Series 6 adventures.
She's also been in Stormcage for a while, placing it after every episode where we see her start there. The mission with Father Octavian is an attempt at earning parole, and while we never get confirmation of her success or failure, it's reasonable to guess that she succeeds. Notably, however, she doesn't know about becoming a professor yet, which gives us more information about the events to come.
The Wedding of River Song (again)
One of the final scenes of "The Wedding of River Song" features a different version of River from the rest of the episode visiting Amy and Rory to tell them about the Doctor's survival. Conveniently, she tells Amy that she just left the crash of the Byzantium, which tells audiences exactly where to place the scene in her timeline.
The Angels Take Manhattan
"The Angels Take Manhattan" was explicitly written to have a version of River that already knew all the secrets line up with a version of the Doctor who did as well, allowing the focus to stay on Amy and Rory's deaths. Thankfully, that tells us exactly where to put it in the timeline. River reveals that she has been out of Stormcage for some time, which puts it after "Flesh and Stone," and that she is a professor, which puts it close to "Silence in the Library."
The Husbands of River Song
While it seemed like River's story was over after Series 7 aired, she returned before Series 10 with the Christmas special "The Husbands of River Song." Here, she meets the Twelfth Doctor, learns that he truly loves her, and lives with him for the next 24 years.
When Flemming flips through her diary, he mocks the fact that she was recently in Manhattan, meaning this episode takes place very recently after her losing her parents. Her speech about the Doctor not loving her back fits surprisingly well after the events of "The Angels Take Manhattan," making this part of her story especially effective when watched in her order.
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
For most of her run on the show, fans have known that River Song's first adventure in the show's order was her last, making it easy to place in sequence. After leaving the Twelfth Doctor, River goes on an expedition to the Library where she comes face-to-face with the Tenth Doctor. Unfortunately, he doesn't know her, breaking her heart and leading her to her death.
The Name of the Doctor
While "Forest of the Dead" should be the end of River's story, she was brought back after her death through a mental link with Clara in "The Name of the Doctor." She helps out throughout the episode, providing her insights and guidance, but it's the end of the episode that really stands out. The Doctor and River get an emotional reunion, and River fades away, presumably gone for the final time.
While this has been a thorough breakdown of the proper order to watch all filmed stories with River Song, there is plenty more to read and listen to in the expanded media. Standouts include "The Diaries of River Song" audio series, The Legends of River Song short story collection, and "The Death & Life of River Song" audio series, which takes place after her death in the series.
It's unlikely at this point that Alex Kingston will get another chance to return to screens as River Song, but that doesn't mean audiences have to be done with her. Watching the series from her perspective adds a lot of depth to her character and gives fans the opportunity to see her journey in a completely new light.