Doctor Who: 10 Defining Moments In River Song's Timeline

2. A Noble Sacrifice

The Doctor and River were always meeting each other in the wrong order but when he replied to her summons to the Library and had no idea who she even was, it didn't take her long to realise that their time together was finally reaching its end. Suffice to say, it broke her heart. It's not like he hadn't changed much himself. This time he had a whole new face (but it was actually an old one and the Eleventh Doctor was nothing more than a twinkle in his eye) but that didn't seem to phase River who had been keeping track of all of his incarnations in her handy - and now visibly battered - diary. This was the Doctor's first encounter with his future wife and it was the day that River had feared more than death itself. As it turns out, death wasn't too far away for her either as she eventually gave her own life to save the Doctor's (as well as the four thousand other people trapped within the Library's datacore, but they're not important). She wasn't just saving his life, though - she was also securing their future together which was all still to come for her beloved Time Lord and she urged him to "watch them run" as she heroically sacrificed herself in flames of glory. The Doctor still had one trick up his sleeve, though, and he managed to prolong her existence by uploading her into the virtual reality of the Library's computer system. Since then she's even been assisting him from beyond the grave...