Peter Capaldi’s Doctor will meet his wife, River Song for the first time during this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special according to a new announcement from the BBC. Alex Kingston, the actress who plays Riversong had this to say:

“To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. “Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humour and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through, we had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September? Why not!”

The episode will be directed by Douglas Mackinnon, and was written by Steven Moffat, who added this:

“Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who – and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time…”