Played by Alex Kingston, River Song is one of the most fascinating characters in Doctor Who - and here's her complete timeline and a recommended viewing order. Doctor Who, which has been promised "radical" change, uses time travel as usually little more than a plot device; a way of explaining how the Doctor and their friends got to Elizabethan England, the Villa Diodati, or Leonardo Da Vinci's rooms. But every now and again, the show has a story or a character who's a little more "timey-wimey" - for whom time travel is an essential part of their story.

River Song is probably the best example. Played by Alex Kingston, she's a time-traveling archaeologist who hops around the timeline with a vortex manipulator. She has a close relationship with the Doctor - in fact, the two married, albeit in an alternate timeline that was erased from existence. But what makes River Song unique is the fact she and the Doctor have met one another in a completely different sequence. They frequently have to check diaries to figure out where they are in one another's personal timelines, ensuring they don't accidentally drop any "spoilers" for each other. And, tragically, the Doctor has known how River's life would end all along - because for him, the first time they met was right before she died.

River Song's story is told in the order the Doctor encounters her - but that makes it particularly interesting to do a rewatch from her perspective instead. That approach brings the sweeping themes of River's life into sharp relief, although there is a little repetition because she's even impacted her own timeline every now and again. Here's River Song's timeline from her perspective, doubling as a viewing order. It focuses only on the TV series, not the comics, Big Finish audios, and even a novel written by Alex Kingston herself, simply because that content is increasing all the time.

A Good Man Goes To War

River Song's story technically begins in Doctor Who season 6, episode 7, which is the story of her birth. Melody Pond is the daughter of Amy and Rory, and she was conceived when the Ponds shared their wedding night together aboard the TARDIS - meaning she would be born with unique abilities, including the power of Time Lord regeneration. Unfortunately, the Doctor's enemies identified her as a potential tool, and they kidnapped Amy, replacing her with a duplicate while they awaited the birth. "A Good Man Goes To War" is the story of the Doctor's rescue of Amy - but he fails to save Melody, who vanishes into the timeline with the Silence.

The Impossible Astronaut / The Day Of The Moon

River Song's personal timeline then continues in Doctor Who season 6, episodes 1 and 2. In "The Impossible Astronaut," the Doctor's friends watch in horror as the Doctor apparently dies before their eyes - only to find a slightly younger Doctor has been called to the scene as well. They are whisked away to 1969, where the Doctor learns President Nixon is getting mysterious calls from a little girl - a girl who can only be kept alive so long as she lives inside a spacesuit. Though they don't know it, the child is Rory and Amy's daughter; the two-part story ends with the mysterious girl regenerating.