River Song's Timeline

Thanks Digi. I missed that bit. Good of you to mention it. I've now added to River's timeline.

Thanks. Tim.

This also makes it likely that her boxset is around the same place, since she already has her screwdriver in that.

Hello everyone!

I've now updated River Song's timeline thread by having it as a page view instead of a PDF view for users to see.

Enjoy!

Tim.

Gotta admit I missed that. What exactly was the reference?

Apparently River also appears in a few 11th Dr comics:

tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Theory:Timeline_-_River_Song

There's also this short story anthology:

tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Legends_of_River_Song_(anthology)

In the lead up to The Diary of River Song 3, I’ve been thinking about Big Finish’s use of River so far and where they slot into her timeline. I seem to recall in the initial announcement, Big Finish said that her appearances in her own series, as well as Doom Coalition, would be set after the events of The Wedding of River Song, but I don’t think it’s quite as straightforward as that...

A Good Man Goes to War (Baby Melody)
The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon (Young Melody)
Let's Kill Hitler (Mels & River Song)
Closing Time
The Wedding of River Song
First Night
A Good Man Goes to War (Stormcage)
The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
A Good Man Goes to War (End Scene)
The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon
The Time of Angels / Flesh & Stone
The Wedding of River Song (End Scene)
Rain Gods
Last Night
The Angels Take Manhattan
1.1 - The Boundless Sea
The Husbands of River Song
1.2 - I Went to a Marvellous Party
1.3 - Signs
1.4 - The Rulers of the Universe
DC 2.4 - The Sonomancer
2.1 - The Unknown
2.2 - Five Twenty-Nine
2.3 - World Enough and Time
2.4 - The Eye of the Storm
DC 3.2 - The Eighth Piece
DC 3.3 - The Doomsday Chronometer
DC 3.4 - The Crucible of Souls
DC 4.2 - Songs of Love
Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
The Name of the Doctor

My justification for the Big Finish placements is that The Boundless Sea has to come before The Husbands of River Song as River uses the sonic trowel. Come the events of I Went to a Marvellous Party, not only does River have the sonic screwdriver, but she also references the Twelfth Doctor, as though Darillium was recent for her. The Rulers of the Universe has River incredibly furious that she’s been paired with a Doctor she shouldn’t meet. The same goes for The Sonomancer, though she’s a little less annoyed. Later appearances have her a little more comfortable with meeting past Doctors, particular the Sixth and Seventh incarnations, knowing she can wipe their minds. The events of Doom Coalition 3 reference events that happened in the second series of Diary, so that must come afterwards. Songs of Love carries on directly from The Crucible of Souls from River’s perspective, so that must follow. I did have a brief idea of Songs of Love being set after Forest of the Dead, with River being a dataghost in the Matrix, but what River gets upto in Doom Coalition 3 seems to disregard that idea, as nice as it is.

The Boundless Sea teases I Went to a Marvellous Party, but doesn’t directly lead into it. There’s wiggle room, particularly as River has a vortex manipulator!

Having listened to Series 3 of The Diary of River Song, I think this might be the earliest Big Finish have portrayed River so far.

She has the vortex manipulator on her, which places her post-The Pandorica Opens. However, she explicitly doesn’t have her sonic screwdriver, as she asks the Fifth Doctor for his - alas he doesn’t have one either - so that places the set pre-Husbands of River Song.

River also references eleven faces of the Doctor. Or twelve or thirteen depending on how one counts. As a result, I think this excludes the Twelfth Doctor and instead focuses on the Doctor’s original regeneration cycle. Eleven numbered incarnations, followed by the War and metacrisis regenerations depending on how one counts. Again, this places the set pre-Husbands of River Song.

Now I know this could potentially conflict with the fury that River displays at meeting a “forbidden” Doctor in both The Rulers of the Universe and The Sonomancer. However, I think one must take into consideration how deflated and defeated River feels come the end of The Lady in the Lake that an exception must be made.

As a result, I think the third series of The Diary of River Song comes post-The Wedding of River Song, where River speaks with Amy after the Byzantium incident. This still keeps the set in the gap Big Finish originally specified of them being post-Wedding. It also comes pre-The Boundless Sea, where River has the sonic trowel before getting the sonic screwdriver.

Basically the third series, for me, comes between the final scene of The Wedding of River Song and The Angels Take Manhattan. Given how emotional River is when describing Amy and Rory in the set, as she felt they could never build a connection together, so doesn’t see them often. I think this would lend some emotional weight if the last time she saw them is during the end scene of The Wedding of River Song, and the next time is their deaths in Angeks Take Manhattan.

So, I think the timeline is now:

A Good Man Goes to War (Baby Melody)
The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon (Young Melody)
Let's Kill Hitler (Mels & River Song)
Closing Time
The Wedding of River Song
First Night
A Good Man Goes to War (Stormcage)
The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
A Good Man Goes to War (End Scene)
The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon
The Time of Angels / Flesh & Stone
The Wedding of River Song (End Scene)
Rain Gods
Last Night
3.1 - The Lady in the Lake
3.2 - A Requiem for the Doctor
3.3 - My Dinner With Andrew
3.4 - The Furies
The Angels Take Manhattan
1.1 - The Boundless Sea
The Husbands of River Song
1.2 - I Went to a Marvellous Party
1.3 - Signs
1.4 - The Rulers of the Universe
DC 2.4 - The Sonomancer
2.1 - The Unknown
2.2 - Five Twenty-Nine
2.3 - World Enough and Time
2.4 - The Eye of the Storm
DC 3.2 - The Eighth Piece
DC 3.3 - The Doomsday Chronometer
DC 3.4 - The Crucible of Souls
DC 4.2 - Songs of Love
Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
The Name of the Doctor

Interesting putting Series 3 pre-Manhattan. I'd assumed it was afterwards given River's desire to find a family in The Lady of the Lake, which makes a lot of sense after losing her parents. This also gives extra weight to her comments about never building a connection with them too, as now she doesn't have the opportunity to try. It's been a while since I listened though so I might be forgetting something.