Doctor Who Confidential (2005–2011): Season 4, Episode 9 - River Runs Deep - full transcript
NARRATOR: This week on Confidential,
Professor Song in the library
with the Doctor.
River know his future. She knows
where he's going, what he's doing.
You're just squabbling
like an old married couple.
Whether they are in fact
husband and wife is there to be seen.
NARRATOR: Still want more spoilers?
Well, join us as
we also go exclusively backstage
to give you the Dr Moon
on a memory stick.
I'm very good!
Saved her.
NARRATOR: As we reach
the concluding chapter in the library,
it seems the future is already written
for both the Doctor
and his adventurous companion to come.
KINGSTON: My character,
her name's River Song.
She's a time-travelling archaeologist.
And she has had
a very close relationship
with the Doctor of the future.
What's interesting about this story is
that the Doctor is encountering someone
for the first time who clearly has
an intimate knowledge of him.
-Hello, sweetie.
-Get out.
TENNANT: How intimate,
we're not entirely sure,
but they've obviously got a lot of
shared history still to have.
I'll just bring you round, so if you can
shine your torch over there.
Yeah.
And then when you turn your back
to the Doctor...
The Doctor is full of doubt about who
Song is. I mean, she's kind of
come up to him, she's kind of
got a screwdriver like his,
she's got all this information
about him.
River Song is one of the most important
characters we've seen in the series.
Professor River Song. Archaeologist.
River Song, lovely name. As you're
leaving, and you're leaving now,
you need to set up...
It's not your ordinary guest star
cropping up
and saying, "Hello, Doctor.
I'll have an adventure with you "
It's not just an archaeologist
the Doctor bumps into.
It's someone who is vital to his life.
I always wanted to be
Sigourney Weaver in Aliens.
And I guess maybe this is
the closest I'll ever get to that,
so I might as well go for it.
Hey, who turned out the lights?
Hey, who turned out the lights?
This way, quickly! Move!
Hey, who turned out the lights?
MAN: Cut.
RIVER: In!
Who turned out the lights?
Run!
Hey, who turned out the lights?
The Doctor is always seen
as the authority.
And yet here is a figure who
sort of throws him curve balls,
because she's one up on him,
she knows things.
Her sonic screwdriver is actually,
although it might look tattier than his,
it's more advanced.
-What's wrong with it?
-There's a signal coming from somewhere.
-Interfering with it.
-Use the red settings.
-It doesn't have a red setting.
-Well, use the dampers.
-It doesn't have dampers.
-It will do one day.
LYN: And he's completely freaked by this
because he's not in control,
she's wearing the trousers.
And also I think he understands
that she could be the love of his life.
He understands that
even if he doesn't feel it,
and that must be a terrifying thing.
Who are you?
-Professor River Song, University of ...
-To me?
-Who are you to me?
-Again, spoilers.
What unsettles him is the level of
intimacy they seem to have shared.
The level of intimacy
with which she treats him
is peculiar for anyone
in the Doctor's life,
let alone someone
he hasn't even met yet.
Pretty boy, with me, I said.
-Oh, I'm pretty boy?
-Yes.
-Ooh, that came out a bit quick.
-Pretty?
(EXCLAIMS)
I just notice, as women do notice,
something's going on.
And she wants to flush that out.
Not from a romantic point of view,
but from a...
She likes travelling with the Doctor
and this is too important for her
to let someone swan in with
their old, battered sonic screwdriver
and lay claim to him.
B camera.
And action.
What are you talking about?
You're just talking rubbish.
-Do you know him or don't you?
-DOCTOR: Donna!
-Quiet, I'm working.
-Sorry.
-Donna. You're Donna, Donna Noble.
-Yeah.
She is the keeper of secrets.
She knows an awful lot about the Doctor
that she doesn't let on.
Okay. And action.
I do know the Doctor, but in the future.
-His personal future.
-So why don't you know me?
Where am I in the future?
I think it's a big shiver, that moment,
and a sort of a point towards what's
to come in the rest of this series.
The Doctor, in the Tardis.
Next stop everywhere.
DOCTOR: Spoilers.
MOFFAT: That's a rather tempting thing,
isn't it?
There it is, there's your future,
there's what's gonna happen to you.
There's who she is.
There's a handy guide to how to win
against various other monsters.
Of course you'd want to
have a little look.
Shall we peek at the end?
I wouldn't look into the future.
No, I think you'd be mad.
Because, the thing is, the future's
gonna come. Do you know what I mean?
It's gonna come
whether we like it or not.
And if you know
it's not going to be good,
what a miserable time waiting for it.
I'd rather just stay in the ignorance
that it's all going to be fine.
Take two.
MOFFAT: Nostalgia about the future is
something that only Doctor Who can do.
And that's great and it's brilliant
and it's wonderful,
it's one of my favourite things,
but the subliminal message is,
“Oh, you've missed the glory days.
Remember when it was good?“
You know when you see a photograph
of someone you know,
but it's from years
before you knew them.
It's like they're not quite finished.
They're not done yet.
So, with a, you know,
a stake in the future of Doctor Who,
I thought it'd be really, really good to
have a character who's doing
the exact opposite, who's coming along
and saying, "Ah, the Doctor I knew",
"he was really great."
So what you're saying is,
instead of saying
the show used to be fantastic,
you're saying,
"Oh, you wait till the next guy."
NARRATOR: Back on location,
the production team are preparing
to film a first for Donna Noble.
As the Doctor languishes in the library,
his companion has her own troubles
in time and cyberspace.
This episode is perhaps
the first time we've seen Donna
go off on an adventure of her own.
I think that's really only in story
terms because she doesn't know
she's having an adventure on her own
because she doesn't remember the Doctor.
Thank you. Forward take, please.
Turning over.
(MAN CALLING INSTRUCTIONS)
And action.
No more dreams, then?
The Doctor, the blue box,
time and space.
How did we get here?
We came down the stairs...
There's this really clever device
that Steven Moffat's written
where time in Donna's world jumps...
Shall we go down to the river?
...exactly in the same way
as it jumps on television.
You said "river",
and suddenly we're feeding ducks.
When a scene cuts...
-Hello, Lee.
-Hello.
...time has moved on.
How did we leave it, him and me?
I got the impression
he was inviting you fishing.
She kind of finds herself thinking...
So...
Fishing?
"I was there a second ago."
What am I gonna do with you?
And Steven was very keen on this,
to use normal, televisual kind of
grammar to make that jump.
I play a character called Dr Moon,
who's the keeper of the mainframe.
He looks after the computer,
he makes things happen,
he heals...
Yes, a very existential role.
He sort of fills in the gaps.
Hello, Donna.
-Who are you?
-I'm Dr Moon.
I've been treating you
since you came here two years ago.
Oh, God. Dr Moon, I'm so sorry.
Dr Moon's a very enigmatic character.
-I didn't know you for a moment.
-And then you remembered.
He plays a certain tone of voice.
You've done so much
in seven years, Donna.
Sometimes it feels more like 70.
Mind you, sometimes
it feels like no time at all.
Obviously, in Doctor Who,
in the first five minutes
of any given Doctor Who story,
loads of sinister people turn up
and smirk unconvincingly at the camera.
That's how Doctor Who operates.
Everyone does that in Doctor Who.
So, obviously Dr Moon seems
initially mysterious and sinister.
-DOCTOR: Donna!
-Oops, sorry!
Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise.
Will I never learn?
The Doctor, I saw the Doctor.
Yes, you did, Donna.
And then you forgot.
He is looking after people.
He's trying to make sure that
they don't realise where they are
'cause that would be painful.
He's trying to make sure they don't
escape 'cause that would be dangerous.
So, he's actually entirely for the good.
I would like to think Dr Moon is...
You know, is trying to protect CAL
rather than being a malevolent presence,
partly because Colin Salmon was so nice.
NARRATOR: The Doctor's swan song
successfully saves River,
but filming the finale
was one hard drive for the cast.
This is the mansion where
they're gonna live happily ever after.
161, take 1. This is a camera A move.
CAL: It's okay. You're safe.
You'll always be safe here.
The Doctor fixed the data core.
And pause. Astronauts in, please.
LYN: We definitely wanted to suggest
that this is a kind of heaven.
Maybe not in specifically
a Christian way, or any other faith way,
but a kind of ...
As a metaphor for heaven,
where River Song and the rest of the
astronauts and the little girl end up
is this beautiful, calm,
serene, green place
where they can live happily ever after.
MOFFAT: Given the absolute
straight choice between oblivion
and the run of all human history
and all human literature,
I'll take the run of all human history
and all human literature.
I think that sounds like
quite a good retirement plan.
That's pretty much as close to heaven
as you're gonna get,
and that's what the Doctor
gives River at the end.
He gives her an eternal retirement,
which is, you know, nice of him.
Professor Song in the library
with the Doctor.
River know his future. She knows
where he's going, what he's doing.
You're just squabbling
like an old married couple.
Whether they are in fact
husband and wife is there to be seen.
NARRATOR: Still want more spoilers?
Well, join us as
we also go exclusively backstage
to give you the Dr Moon
on a memory stick.
I'm very good!
Saved her.
NARRATOR: As we reach
the concluding chapter in the library,
it seems the future is already written
for both the Doctor
and his adventurous companion to come.
KINGSTON: My character,
her name's River Song.
She's a time-travelling archaeologist.
And she has had
a very close relationship
with the Doctor of the future.
What's interesting about this story is
that the Doctor is encountering someone
for the first time who clearly has
an intimate knowledge of him.
-Hello, sweetie.
-Get out.
TENNANT: How intimate,
we're not entirely sure,
but they've obviously got a lot of
shared history still to have.
I'll just bring you round, so if you can
shine your torch over there.
Yeah.
And then when you turn your back
to the Doctor...
The Doctor is full of doubt about who
Song is. I mean, she's kind of
come up to him, she's kind of
got a screwdriver like his,
she's got all this information
about him.
River Song is one of the most important
characters we've seen in the series.
Professor River Song. Archaeologist.
River Song, lovely name. As you're
leaving, and you're leaving now,
you need to set up...
It's not your ordinary guest star
cropping up
and saying, "Hello, Doctor.
I'll have an adventure with you "
It's not just an archaeologist
the Doctor bumps into.
It's someone who is vital to his life.
I always wanted to be
Sigourney Weaver in Aliens.
And I guess maybe this is
the closest I'll ever get to that,
so I might as well go for it.
Hey, who turned out the lights?
Hey, who turned out the lights?
This way, quickly! Move!
Hey, who turned out the lights?
MAN: Cut.
RIVER: In!
Who turned out the lights?
Run!
Hey, who turned out the lights?
The Doctor is always seen
as the authority.
And yet here is a figure who
sort of throws him curve balls,
because she's one up on him,
she knows things.
Her sonic screwdriver is actually,
although it might look tattier than his,
it's more advanced.
-What's wrong with it?
-There's a signal coming from somewhere.
-Interfering with it.
-Use the red settings.
-It doesn't have a red setting.
-Well, use the dampers.
-It doesn't have dampers.
-It will do one day.
LYN: And he's completely freaked by this
because he's not in control,
she's wearing the trousers.
And also I think he understands
that she could be the love of his life.
He understands that
even if he doesn't feel it,
and that must be a terrifying thing.
Who are you?
-Professor River Song, University of ...
-To me?
-Who are you to me?
-Again, spoilers.
What unsettles him is the level of
intimacy they seem to have shared.
The level of intimacy
with which she treats him
is peculiar for anyone
in the Doctor's life,
let alone someone
he hasn't even met yet.
Pretty boy, with me, I said.
-Oh, I'm pretty boy?
-Yes.
-Ooh, that came out a bit quick.
-Pretty?
(EXCLAIMS)
I just notice, as women do notice,
something's going on.
And she wants to flush that out.
Not from a romantic point of view,
but from a...
She likes travelling with the Doctor
and this is too important for her
to let someone swan in with
their old, battered sonic screwdriver
and lay claim to him.
B camera.
And action.
What are you talking about?
You're just talking rubbish.
-Do you know him or don't you?
-DOCTOR: Donna!
-Quiet, I'm working.
-Sorry.
-Donna. You're Donna, Donna Noble.
-Yeah.
She is the keeper of secrets.
She knows an awful lot about the Doctor
that she doesn't let on.
Okay. And action.
I do know the Doctor, but in the future.
-His personal future.
-So why don't you know me?
Where am I in the future?
I think it's a big shiver, that moment,
and a sort of a point towards what's
to come in the rest of this series.
The Doctor, in the Tardis.
Next stop everywhere.
DOCTOR: Spoilers.
MOFFAT: That's a rather tempting thing,
isn't it?
There it is, there's your future,
there's what's gonna happen to you.
There's who she is.
There's a handy guide to how to win
against various other monsters.
Of course you'd want to
have a little look.
Shall we peek at the end?
I wouldn't look into the future.
No, I think you'd be mad.
Because, the thing is, the future's
gonna come. Do you know what I mean?
It's gonna come
whether we like it or not.
And if you know
it's not going to be good,
what a miserable time waiting for it.
I'd rather just stay in the ignorance
that it's all going to be fine.
Take two.
MOFFAT: Nostalgia about the future is
something that only Doctor Who can do.
And that's great and it's brilliant
and it's wonderful,
it's one of my favourite things,
but the subliminal message is,
“Oh, you've missed the glory days.
Remember when it was good?“
You know when you see a photograph
of someone you know,
but it's from years
before you knew them.
It's like they're not quite finished.
They're not done yet.
So, with a, you know,
a stake in the future of Doctor Who,
I thought it'd be really, really good to
have a character who's doing
the exact opposite, who's coming along
and saying, "Ah, the Doctor I knew",
"he was really great."
So what you're saying is,
instead of saying
the show used to be fantastic,
you're saying,
"Oh, you wait till the next guy."
NARRATOR: Back on location,
the production team are preparing
to film a first for Donna Noble.
As the Doctor languishes in the library,
his companion has her own troubles
in time and cyberspace.
This episode is perhaps
the first time we've seen Donna
go off on an adventure of her own.
I think that's really only in story
terms because she doesn't know
she's having an adventure on her own
because she doesn't remember the Doctor.
Thank you. Forward take, please.
Turning over.
(MAN CALLING INSTRUCTIONS)
And action.
No more dreams, then?
The Doctor, the blue box,
time and space.
How did we get here?
We came down the stairs...
There's this really clever device
that Steven Moffat's written
where time in Donna's world jumps...
Shall we go down to the river?
...exactly in the same way
as it jumps on television.
You said "river",
and suddenly we're feeding ducks.
When a scene cuts...
-Hello, Lee.
-Hello.
...time has moved on.
How did we leave it, him and me?
I got the impression
he was inviting you fishing.
She kind of finds herself thinking...
So...
Fishing?
"I was there a second ago."
What am I gonna do with you?
And Steven was very keen on this,
to use normal, televisual kind of
grammar to make that jump.
I play a character called Dr Moon,
who's the keeper of the mainframe.
He looks after the computer,
he makes things happen,
he heals...
Yes, a very existential role.
He sort of fills in the gaps.
Hello, Donna.
-Who are you?
-I'm Dr Moon.
I've been treating you
since you came here two years ago.
Oh, God. Dr Moon, I'm so sorry.
Dr Moon's a very enigmatic character.
-I didn't know you for a moment.
-And then you remembered.
He plays a certain tone of voice.
You've done so much
in seven years, Donna.
Sometimes it feels more like 70.
Mind you, sometimes
it feels like no time at all.
Obviously, in Doctor Who,
in the first five minutes
of any given Doctor Who story,
loads of sinister people turn up
and smirk unconvincingly at the camera.
That's how Doctor Who operates.
Everyone does that in Doctor Who.
So, obviously Dr Moon seems
initially mysterious and sinister.
-DOCTOR: Donna!
-Oops, sorry!
Mrs Angelo's rhubarb surprise.
Will I never learn?
The Doctor, I saw the Doctor.
Yes, you did, Donna.
And then you forgot.
He is looking after people.
He's trying to make sure that
they don't realise where they are
'cause that would be painful.
He's trying to make sure they don't
escape 'cause that would be dangerous.
So, he's actually entirely for the good.
I would like to think Dr Moon is...
You know, is trying to protect CAL
rather than being a malevolent presence,
partly because Colin Salmon was so nice.
NARRATOR: The Doctor's swan song
successfully saves River,
but filming the finale
was one hard drive for the cast.
This is the mansion where
they're gonna live happily ever after.
161, take 1. This is a camera A move.
CAL: It's okay. You're safe.
You'll always be safe here.
The Doctor fixed the data core.
And pause. Astronauts in, please.
LYN: We definitely wanted to suggest
that this is a kind of heaven.
Maybe not in specifically
a Christian way, or any other faith way,
but a kind of ...
As a metaphor for heaven,
where River Song and the rest of the
astronauts and the little girl end up
is this beautiful, calm,
serene, green place
where they can live happily ever after.
MOFFAT: Given the absolute
straight choice between oblivion
and the run of all human history
and all human literature,
I'll take the run of all human history
and all human literature.
I think that sounds like
quite a good retirement plan.
That's pretty much as close to heaven
as you're gonna get,
and that's what the Doctor
gives River at the end.
He gives her an eternal retirement,
which is, you know, nice of him.