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River Song returns for a further set of adventures out now – and the series moves further up and down her timeline than before.

Alex Kingston stars as the time-travelling archaeologist in The Diary of River Song: Two Rivers and a Firewall, revealing spoilers from untold chapters in her adventurous life… and death.

In this anthology of four stand-alone stories, River encounters an Other River Song (Mimî M Khayisa) from a parallel universe and some ruthless royals who will do anything to stay young. Then, she’ll face hellish shopping experience worse than Black Friday — a showdown with the terrifying Autons!  Finally, Firewall revisits the digital afterlife of River Song — introduced in 2008’s Doctor Who TV episode, Forest of the Dead — where she, Proper Dave (Harry Peacock), and Charlotte (Merryn Dowley) all live blissfully unaware of their past and ominous future.

The guest cast also includes Paul Bazely (The Ipcress File, Feel Good), Victoria Ekanoye (Coronation Street, The Royals), Susan Momoko Hingley (Years and Years) and Jason Forbes (This Is Going to Hurt).

The legendary Professor River Song travels between her own tomb and the afterlife, only stopping to shop and visit royalty along the way. All in a day’s work for the great archaeologist. 

The Two Rivers by Tim Foley 

River Song finds herself on an irresistible mission — investigating the tomb of the legendary River Song! Except the statues don’t resemble her and the tomb contains the body of someone very different… or does it?

Beauty on the Inside by Lizzie Hopley 

It would seem to be a perfectly ordinary painting of a forgettable royal family — so why did a biochemist smuggle it out of a closed colony at the cost of her own life? River is determined to find out.

Black Friday by Lauren Mooney & Stewart Pringle 

Omnia Forum might just be the greatest shop in the galaxy and it’s celebrating two hundred years at the heart of the retail sector. But when River attends the celebratory gala she finds it less ‘everything must go’ and more ‘everything has gone’… apart from the Autons.

Firewall by Barnaby Kay 

River is living her dream life with her dream husband. But every paradise has a serpent and this husband might not quite be up to the task.

Producer David Richardson said: “This set was originally called ‘Anthology’ until John Dorney came up with the much more playful Two Rivers and a Firewall. But an anthology it is — four separate and very distinct tales from different parts of River’s life and after her death…”

Alex Kingston added: “It’s been a really long time since we shot Silence in the Library. It’s so lovely to revisit it and go on from the final moments of that storyline. I’ve always wondered how they lived their lives in this alternate world. I’m really thrilled that Barnaby Kay, the writer of Firewall, has explored that and we have an adventure within it.”

The Diary Of River Song: Two Rivers and a Firewall is now available to own for just £24.99 (collector’s edition CD box set + download) or £19.99 (download only), exclusively from the Big Finish website.