They’re two of the most larger than life characters in the Doctor Who universe, but for some reason the stars have never aligned to allow River Song and Captain Jack Harkness to meet on screen. The pair of flirtatious, gun-toting, time-travelling adventurers would clearly get on like a house on fire, which is why fans have been calling for a crossover between the two for years.
And they’re not the only ones, apparently. Alex Kingston has said that not only does she want to see a River/Jack team-up episode, but that she and John Barrowman frequently talk about it when they get together. She told the crowd at a Q&A at Edmonton Expo in Canada the following:
“I think it’d be great if she met with Captain Jack Harkness. It’s funny because John and I, we talk about, we imagine, fantasise about all the possibilities.”
“Certainly I think that now Chris Chibnall is showrunning, it would kind of be fantastic. Not necessarily a spin-off show, but it kind of would be great if even the Doctor happened upon a bar in the universe where River and Captain Jack happened to be sitting, having a drink or something. I think it’d be cool!”
At the same event, Kingston spoke about her desire to appear in season 11 so that she could meet the Thirteenth Doctor, as played by Jodie Whittaker. The actress does admit, however, that something would need to happen for River to return in the future. So far, Dr. Song’s adventures have been solely written by her creator Steven Moffat. With Moffat stepping down from Doctor Who at Christmas, however, he’d need to give his replacement, Chris Chibnall, his blessing to continue River’s story.
“Obviously Steven is no longer showrunning, but I think Steven is very attached to the character of River,” she said. “I mean he killed her off right at the beginning, but I think it was sort of not easy him to necessarily completely let her go… Steven wouldn’t let anyone else write for my character. So it’s whether he now graciously releases River into the hands of other writers. It’d be nice if he did! So we’ll see.”
River was last seen on Doctor Who back in 2015 Christmas special “The Husbands of River Song,” her sole appearance opposite Peter Capaldi. Captain Jack, meanwhile, hasn’t turned up on the show since David Tennant’s swansong “The End of Time” on New Year’s Day 2010. His spinoff series, Torchwood later ended in 2011.
As such, it’d be a stretch to see a scenario where both actors return for more, but we can at least take comfort in the fact that Doctor Who will be back – sadly sans River and Jack – on Christmas Day.
