The Wedding of River Song ( TV story ) The Wedding of River Song was the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of " Doctor Who " . The episode featured an unusually extreme alteration to the course of history resulting from a change to a fixed point in time . It also showed how the Doctor survived his supposed death and it concluded a long - running story - arc when the Doctor married River Song . However , a new arc arose in its place with a prophetic statement about the Doctor ' s future battles , which would become a pressing matter in due time . It ' s also the first time since the first half of Series 6 that Amy ' s pain of losing Melody on Demon ' s Run is mentioned , and she takes her anger out on Kovarian by killing her . This episode was notable for featuring Simon Callow to briefly reprise his role of Charles Dickens , who was last seen six years prior to this episode in the Ninth Doctor ' s story , TV : " The Unquiet Dead " . The Eleventh Doctor stories had up until then remained somewhat detached from the Russell T Davies - era , introducing a purely new entourage of human and humanoid characters to work with instead of bringing back the old ones . This cameo effectively broke the practice . Equally notable was the surprise appearance of American celebrity Meredith Vieira as herself in an announcement for " The Today Show " . Finally , this story notably killed off a close ally of the Doctor who had made numerous appearances in " Doctor Who " s original 1963 - 1989 run : Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge - Stewart . His actor , Nicholas Courtney , had died of cancer the previous February , and his character was written out to pay respect to his passing . The character had made numerous recurring appearances from " The Web of Fear " in 1968 to " Battlefield " in 1989 , and regularly starred in the series from 1970 ' s " Spearhead from Space " to 1974 ' s " Robot " . The death of Lethbridge - Stewart would be commonly referenced in future UNIT stories until " Death in Heaven " , when he returned as a benevolent Cyberman in a scene paying tribute to the late Courtney . The Doctor decides to be more subtle and return to the shadows as of this story ; however , after the Siege of Trenzalore , it appears that he dropped the idea as the Silence was effectively disbanded / defeated . Synopsis . Something is wrong , in the fullest sense of the word . At first glance , the world " seems " fine , but upon closer inspection , dinosaurs , Romans , and other things throughout time have appeared . Oddly , nobody seems to be bothered by it , like was it part of every day life . Another oddity has occurred . Despite the sun rising and setting like normal , the time is always the same . Only the Doctor has the answer , and boy oh boy , it ' s gonna be a whopper ! Plot . The War of the Roses enters its second year as London picnickers are warned not to feed the pterodactyl s and Charles Dickens is interviewed on television about his new Christmas ghost special . Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill returns to Buckingham Senate on his personal mammoth . Churchill complains about his conference with Cleopatra in Gaul , saying that she ' s an excellent dancer , but not very likeable . He asks his Silurian physician , Malokeh , for the time ; it ' s 5 : 02 PM on 22 April 2011 . He finds this troubling , despite being reminded it has always been the same date . He orders that his soothsayer be dragged from the Tower . Upon the soothsayer ' s arrival , Churchill reminds him about his constant rambling about how something has happened to time . He asks to be told in simple terms what happened . Slowly , the soothsayer looks up , revealing himself as the Eleventh Doctor , who tells him why : " A woman . " In a flashback , the Doctor walks up to a figure from the shadows in a dark , damaged room with a fire burning in a corner . Speaking at a fizzling monitor , he addresses it with cold tranquility : " Imagine you were dying . Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain . Just when you thought it couldn ' t get worse , you looked up and saw the face of the devil himself . . . Hello , Dalek . " It ' s revealed that Dalek Supreme is damaged beyond repair ; the Doctor takes it apart , scanning its memory banks for any information regarding the Silence . The Doctor next arrives at a bar , asking the barman for a Father Gideon Vandaleur . The barman doesn ' t give a straight answer , until the Doctor brandishes the eyestalk of the same Dalek he dismantled . Vandaleur meets with the Doctor as he reads " Knitting for Girls " , but the Doctor knows the envoy has been dead for 6 months . The Doctor zaps him with the sonic , revealing Gideon as the " Teselecta " in disguise . He stares into the eyes of the vehicle and asks to speak with the captain . The Doctor knows they ' ve been spying on the Silence ; he wants to find their weakest link . With the " Teselecta " ' s information , the Doctor tracks down Gantok . He challenges Gantok to a game of live chess , an illegal game that has electricity run through the pieces that increases with each move . The Doctor corners Gantok , with the queen being his only legal move ; however , the voltage is too much , even with the protective glove he wears . Gantok asks the Doctor to concede in exchange for a favour ; though fearful of retribution from the Silence , Gantok agrees to take the Doctor to Dorium Maldovar , who can answer the Doctor ' s questions . Gantok brings the Doctor to the Seventh Transept , where the Headless Monks keep their heads . The richest have their heads preserved in boxes , which shocks the Doctor upon finding Dorium ' s , which sneezes . Gantok then tries to kill the Doctor in revenge for being beaten at chess ; however , he falls into a trapdoor that drops him into a pile a ravenous skulls . The screams awake Dorium , who jokes about his condition . The Doctor asks about the Silence , and why he got stuck being killed at Lake Silencio ; the location was chosen as it was easier to create a fixed point to ensure that the Doctor died without fail . Dorium insists that if the Doctor lives , on the fields of Trenzalore , at the fall of the Eleventh , when no creature can speak falsely or fail to answer , a question that must never be answered will be asked : the first question , hidden in plain sight . To Dorium ' s surprise , the Doctor doesn ' t know the question , despite its significance to him . He asks if his visitor wants to know the question . The Doctor agrees nervously . Taking Dorium ' s head with him , the Doctor determines to continue his farewell tour . However , when he learns his old friend the Brigadier is dead , his bravado crumbles . He accepts his time has come . He gives the " Teselecta " invitations to deliver , since it would involve crossing his own timeline , which is a bad idea . He goes to Lake Silencio with Amy Pond , Rory Williams and River Song , where they drink a bottle of wine Napoleon threw at him . An impossible astronaut rises from the lake and he goes to meet it ; as before , he orders his companions to stay back and not interfere not matter what they see . The astronaut ' s visor lifts to reveal River Song , trapped in the suit by the Silence . She has no control over the suit as it prepares to kill the Doctor . He explains she won ' t remember murdering him , and will serve time for a crime she doesn ' t remember and committed against her will . He forgives her unconditionally , shutting his eyes as her arm rises to deliver the three deadly blows . There are five bursts that make him flinch . The Doctor opens his eyes and demands to know what she has done . River smiles . She has discharged her weapons systems harmlessly , saying that fixed points can be rewritten . The Doctor demands to know who gave her such an idea as everything sudden fades away into white . The Doctor and Churchill discuss these events ; the Doctor compares to how time now being stuck due to River ' s mistake to a record skipping . They see they are holding weapons . Tally marks have appeared on the Doctor ' s arms . They look up . The ceiling is infested with dozens of Silent s . Before they can attack , a grenade rolls into the hall and a troop of soldiers under the command of an eyepatched Amy Pond invade . She shoots the Doctor . He wakes from the stun gun in Amy ' s office on a train ; he tries reasoning with her , and make Amy remember the proper timeline . However , he stops once he sees that the walls of the office are lined with drawings of their adventures . Thanks to the crack in the universe which Amy grew up next to , she can remember alternate timelines ; however , she doesn ' t recall that Captain Williams , a soldier in her force , is Rory . The train is bound for the Great Pyramid of Giza - Area 52 . Amy wonders if things can stay like they are , but the Doctor tells her that this mess on Earth will spread to the rest of the cosmos until all of reality will fall apart . In Area 52 , the Doctor and Amy walk past more than 100 captured Silents ; he is given an eyepatch , which is explained as an external memory storage system to remember the Silents . They arrive in the King ' s Chamber , where River awaits them . Kovarian is a prisoner , tied to a chair , annoyed at how the Doctor continues to live . " Did my best , dear ; I showed up . You just can ' t get good psychopaths these days . " River taunts Kovarian , telling her it was a big mistake to kidnap and raise a girl into a perfect psychopath and introducing her to the Doctor ; who else would River fall in love with ? The Doctor goes to take River ' s hand , but she knows they are opposite poles of an explosion waiting to destroy this timeline . She has him handcuffed and tries to convince him to live . The Silents , who have actually just been waiting , escape because it is their trap . As the soldiers retreat to the King ' s Chamber , their eye drives electrify and kill them . Kovarian mocks them by explaining that the Silents never allow a true advantage , until her eye drive sparks too . Rory stays to hold off the Silents , while River , Amy and the Doctor go to the apex of the pyramid to see what River has built . The door flies open ; Rory falls to his knees as the Silents enter and begin to electrocute him , but Amy , at last remembering who he is , returns to kill them with a machine gun . A weakened Kovarian asks Amy to help her , having gotten her eye drive partially off . Amy burns with rage , stating that Kovarian stole and hurt her baby , and that even though her child is okay now , she will never see her baby again . Kovarian says that Amy will help her as she wouldn ' t want to disappoint the Doctor . Amy points out that while the Doctor means a lot to her , he ' s also not with them . Kovarian ' s face goes blank with terror as Amy places the eye drive back on , stating " River Song didn ' t get it all from you , sweetie . " They leave a screaming Kovarian to join the Doctor and River . Amy then suggests to a very happy Rory that they should get a drink when everything is over , and then married . Rory complacently agrees to both suggestions . Atop the Great Pyramid , River has built a beacon , signalling to the universe across all of time : " The Doctor is dying . Please help " . She goes on to explain that the sunspots that keep getting reported in the news are actually replies to her message . And every reply is , " Yes , of course " . The Doctor , however , insists that no one can help him . He must die to prevent all of time disintegrating . River despairs , claiming that she will suffer more than every living thing in the universe if she has to kill the Doctor . Seeing that there is only one way to pacify River , the Doctor tells Amy to uncuff him . He uses his bow tie to marry River in a He whispers a secret into his bride ' s ear and tells her she must never tell anyone what he has just told her : his name . As she looks at him in wonder , the Doctor asks for her help . They kiss and time moves again . River shoots the Doctor thrice , preventing his regeneration . He dies . The distorted timeline vanishes . Some time later , River , fresh from the crash of the " Byzantium " , arrives at her mother ' s home to split a bottle of wine . Amy wonders what the events in the aborted , frozen time line say about her , particularly her murder of Kovarian . She needs to talk about her guilt with the Doctor , but he is dead . River disagrees . Amy notes that her daughter is still having adventures with him in the centuries before his death , but River tells her a secret which she probably shouldn ' t . As Rory joins his wife and daughter , they dance for joy until Amy realises to her horror she is the Doctor ' s mother - in - law . A monk carries Dorium ' s head back to the Seventh Transept . Dorium recognises the Doctor and asks how he escaped . Discarding his disguise , the Doctor explains that he asked for some help from the " Teselecta " crew ; he had it disguise itself as him while he and the TARDIS were safely inside of it . Simply , he was at Lake Silencio , but had someone else take his place . The Doctor goes on to explain that he got too big , too noisy ; now that the universe believes him to be dead , it ' s time to step back into the shadows . Dorium points out that River Song has been imprisoned for the rest of her days for a false murder ; however , the Doctor says that her nights are between her and him . Dorium offers to help keep the Doctor ' s secrets , but calls him a fool since the prophecy is still waiting for him . The Doctor heads back to the TARDIS . Dorium calls after him with the question that must never be answered at the fields of Trenzalore , the question the Doctor has been running from his entire life : " Doctor who ? " Home video releases . This episode , along with the rest of the second half of series 6 , was released on DVD and Blu Ray on the 10 October 2011 . The episode was later released in the complete series 6 , which included the first and second half of the series , was released on DVD and Blu Ray on the 21 November 2011 .