10 Doctor Who Mysteries Explained Outside The Show

10. What Was The Picnic At Asgard?

When we first met River Song in the Series 4 two-parter Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, she mentioned two adventures yet to take place for the Doctor.

The first of these, The Crash of the Byzantium, would make it to the screen in the very next River Song story, The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone. But the second, The Picnic at Asgard, remains a mystery - on TV, at least.

Jenny Colgan’s 2016 short story of the same name reveals all about this intriguing encounter. And brace yourselves: it’s probably not quite what you were expecting.

According to this account, Asgard is not some romantic oasis, but a planet-sized theme park. The Doctor (number Eleven) and River spend a good deal longer there than you might have imagined, having to contend with a malfunctioning mechanical dragon and a dodgy dimensional calibrator, before they can get anywhere near their picnic basket.

Colgan’s story is also surprisingly moving, delving deep into River’s desire to have children, and her reluctance to raise the matter with the Doctor. It’s well worth a look.