If I was Moffat I would save it for the finale and bring them back for a big storyline where Doctor and Clara need all the help they can get. Captain Jack Harkness has not been seen since 01/01/2010 TEOT 2 however he has been briefly referenced in TWORS and DOTD. 2015 is his 10th anniversary too. JB has always seemed keen to reprise the role. Plus he has worked with AK on Arrow so they know each other. 12 has already seen some of his other old friends Vastra, Jenny, Strax Kate Stewart and the tragic Osgood . Why wouldn't he eventually meet Jack and or River ?. In the whoniverse anything is possible even being dead or stuck in another dimension hasn't prevented other characters coming back. In DB said he wanted to put past mistakes right in LC said he got a second chance with Clara. Why not give him time with Jack and or River to do the same ?.Rivers story was suppose to be wrapped up in NOTD but she was briefly mentioned in 8.6 TC. River is not just the doctors wife or Amy and Rory's daughter. Being a part time lord with 2 degrees in archaeology give her knowledge and perspective that might be very helpful to her husband. Especially if it all kicks of with Galifrey and or Missy. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury the defence rests.

Absolutely hated River and think she belongs in the past, if any companion should return for the 10th anniversary it should be the love of the Doctors live, Rose

I think the show has moved on from both characters at this point. If there is a story for them, by all means bring them all but really, I don't think either of them are needed.

No more River. Couldn't stand her.

I liked Rose, but I think she's already been successfully brought back (sort of) in the Moffat era and, before that, was brought back too many times. (If that makes sense! ).

River's story is done, but I think both her and Jack could be brought back as a one-off, if there was a suitable story idea that needed those characters to work. The same goes for Amy, Rory, Donna and Martha.

Donna, I feel, deserves a revisit the most because it's so tragic that she forgot how special she is.

I wish they'd resurrect Osgood too!

How can u hate River song, she was a classic, i loved her charactor.


Please bring River back, not no more River :P

My fav scene was in the episode that she had that awesome line

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3p0GDlpVcs

This is the line i loved soo much

Thanks for the response. Liked AK as River and in other things. Bit weird seeing her as Dinah Lance in Arrow with a different accent. Boyfreind in Chasing Shadows is played by Noel Clarke / Mickey Smith. Doctors ex wife with a companions ex lover!.

She wasn't classic she was just a cringeworthy and incredibly unfunny character, I never bought in to her relationship with the Doctor and I don't consider her his wife, only the wife of 11. If I have to hear "Hello sweetie" or "Spoilers" again I will roundhouse kick my TV.

My stock rather dull answer...if someone comes up with a great concept for a story which can involve River (thought she was great myself) or Jack or Pigbin Josh or whatever character or villain or creature from the past; go for it.

Loathe that woman with a passion, she should never grace a story ever again, in fact, she should never have appeared again after her meeting with ten.

She is one of the reasons that I have no desire to watch any of series' 5, 6 or 7 ever again.

I've said it many times before - Jack and river just needs to happen. It would be worth it just too see the look on the doctors face standing inbetween them as they both act like themselves

They should have these Jack and river, along with any other Moffat era characters that are viable (obviously Amy, Rory and Osgood aren't unless they are past versions) and do a Moffat characters 'Journeys end' type story. I think it would be a good idea as it worked fantastically in that story, and that story was a celebration of sorts of the characters of the RTD era, so Moffat could have one too, especially since it's likely to be his last series as series 4 was for RTD.



For me, Rose is always welcome. A character who can never reappear too often in my eyes.

River Song was a dislikeable and hugely smug character with a cheap catchphrase who blighted the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who.

Thankfully her story was concluded by Moffat in Name Of The Doctor, and Moffat himself has stated that he was quite happy with the way things had ended. I doubt we will see her appear again - and that's all for the good!

Ye gads no!!!

I seem to be in a minority on here (though a majority elsewhere a lot of the time) that loved River and would love to see her back. Captain Jack I'm less bothered about, though I wouldn't complain. I'd love to see them both meet one more Doctor. I don't want either of them recurring again, but to appear together in an appropriate story is fine by me.

I think I like the idea of a "Time Travellers Assemble" concept, kind of inspired by the recent obsession with the likes of Avengers. It'd serve as a great two-part finale on the same sort of scale as Series 4 (though not necessarily contemporary Earth at stake), which sees the greatest time travellers unite against a common enemy. I'd canonise River's final scene on screen at the Singing Towers, I would maybe use the story as a way to explore Jack's "two lost years" - bringing their respective characters full circle in the same story. If you wanted to you could throw the Doctor's Daughter into the assemblage as well, and maybe keep her as a potential recurring character or potential companion in future (an ability to regenerate would allow a workaround for Georgia Moffett's involvement in that either way). The story would serve as Clara's exit, and could also involve Missy in some small way (though not as the focus of the story - more a case of she has a role to play, but the story is bigger than just her).

What the common threat is...well that really much depends on whether Moffat intends to stay beyond 2015. If Series 9 is his last, and there was a big time travellers assemble story like this then it surely has to be the Weeping Angels in a big budget timey-wimey, slightly scary adventure (by then it will have been 3+ years since they got an episode of their own). If he plans to stay on beyond Series 9 I'd be inclined to find a brand new threat... the show kind of needs to establish one.

The core importance of an idea like this though is that The Doctor is the centre of events. There's enough characters to keep the story busy so that we don't have to chisel away at the mysteries of the Doctor, but he is the common denominator of all these characters and the story needs to give him a role suited to that status.

Also in the minority. I bloody loved River.

But even as a massive fan I felt we had our goodbye to River with her last appearance and I don't think she should be brought back unless there is a great reason to do so.

I'd also rather we got more Torchwood to rather than Jack in DW and he always seemed very comic book to me whenever he appeared on DW.

Yes, he was a very different character in the 2 different shows. He really benefited from the more sensitive adult approach (to his character - sensitive and Torchwood as a concept - esp. season 1 - do not really go together!) in Torchwood.

The love of his life is the Tardis. The second love of his life would probably be his first wife, i.e. Susan's grandmother.

It certainly ain't Rose Bloody Tyler!

No to John Barrowman - he stinks up the show good and proper when he's on it.
Yes to River Song - she is Doctor's Who's wife after all.

Please add my vote to the minorities that want River and Jack back for S9. Loved 'em both.

Also the Paternoster Gang. Sometimes more is more.

Maybe if we petition and wish really hard the message will get through. Imagine Jacks reaction to Missy. "So Doctor here you've been having some girl trouble , nothing changes does it ?".

DW really needs a clean slate IMO. No returning story arcs, characters. I honestly just want 13 episodes of pure ridiculous mayhem like the RTD era.

Would love to see both characters back, especially Jack. Don't understand the hatred by some of River. There have been plenty of worse characters IMO, Missy for one, now thats someone I can' stand. But don't bring either of them back just for the sake of it. There must be a good story and a good reason why they need to appear.
Personally I would like a revised Torchwood with Jack, Gwen, Martha & Micky with the odd appearance of River.

Agree 100% with this. Although I seem to be in the minority, I've always loved the Stolen Earth/Journey's End two parter. It summed up pretty much everything the RTD era was perfectly.

That said, I think RTD missed a trick by having that in the Series 4 finale. In my opinion TSE/JE should only have been about Donna and Rose, and then ''The End of Time'' could have had all the ''Children of Time'' stuff with the rest of Ten's companions. It would certainly have been better than the pointless ''farewell tour'' we ended up getting.

I think that if S9 does turn out to be Moffat's swansong, It's still too early for it to be Capaldi's. If Moffat does go down the ''bring back all my era's notable characters for the finale route'' I think it'll end up being more ''Journey's End'' style than ''The End of Time''

In my book River is welcome back any time; Captain Jack, absolutely not.

Jack is the most dreadful character in the new series. Badly written and needlessly campy. Plus he is played by the utterly wooden John Barrowman. *shudder*

Even in Torchwood they could have easily written him out and had Gwen or some other person take charge of the team. I'd be happy for them to do one last series so it can be concluded, but ideally with his brutal demise with no possible way of returning!!

At least Alex Kingston can act and has some wonderfully dry and sardonic lines. Plus I love that, because of the nature of their relationship, River and the Doctor are always a heartbeat out of sync.

My greatest regret with River is that they didn't introduce the girl playing Mels at the start of the season and having her pop in and out as a 3rd companion every now and then - and then do the surprise regeneration/reveal towards the end. The actress that played Mels was absolutely brilliant.

I'd also be happy for Donna to somehow regain her memory and return for another stint - or at least for a one-off. I hated the fact that it was explained that Time Lord & Human DNA is incompatible, but they introduced River who was half and half. Seemed a bit nonsensical.

BIB: Hmm. I think you must've forgotten quite a bit about the RTD era, like continuing story arcs and returning characters. And the SM era has taken stick for some seriously silly stories.

Oh well. Each to their own.