Moffat Appreciation Day Countdown Day 1: Favorite Character Arc/Development
River Song continues to not only be one of my favorite characters on Doctor Who, but my favorite arc/development that a character has seen under the writing of Steven Moffat. Though I love the idea and it was executed very well, I think sometimes with River’s timeline being presented as out of order/backwards masks some of the most heartbreaking and well done character development.
This woman is not just “The Woman Who Marries the Doctor.” Yes, she is that, but she is so much more and such a strong character. Born in the care of people who wanted the Doctor dead by any means possible, growing up under the influence (and possible torture) of the Silence, being shot at by her own Mother in an attempt to save the life of the man she’s been conditioned to hate, River overcame so much. Even after she regenerated in New York and continued to be conditioned by Madame Kavorian, River found and befriended her parents as children- though still believing that the Doctor was the cause of bad things in the universe.
She’s flirtatious, sure, but she’s also smart, resourceful, kind, curious, and loving. All traits that she at one time might not have believed herself to be capable of. She’s not defined by her marriage to the Doctor like many would like to believe. Yes of course her relationship with him is an enormous part of her life, but she’s independent. She chose to study archaeology at first to learn more about and find the Doctor again, but she comes to love it enough to continue on in her studies until she becomes a professor. She breaks out of prison on her own to take various trips. She takes the time to investigate various anomalies by herself- like Weeping Angels in New York. Though it’s not often shown directly on screen, River has many adventures of her own. She make the most of her life that she can, even if her ‘home’ for many years was a (supposedly inescapable) high-security prison.
Despite all of the bad things that happened to her in her life- torture, conditioning to become and assassin, being forced to murder the man she came to love after learning how compassionate he really was, prison, and the heartbreak of never knowing if her parents would know who she is- River didn’t want any of that rewritten. Even though all these bad things happened to her because of the Doctor and her parents, she still loves and cares for them- something that I find amazing and worth appreciating.
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