River Song is dragged into the madness of the Time War, alongside a Doctor who never wanted to fight that battle. 

River thinks she knows where their paths will take them, but the temporal battlegrounds are shifting – and she can no longer take anything for granted. Not even her own existence. 

Alex Kingston was a star of the 2025 series of Strictly Come Dancing, exiting after ten weeks of tango and rumba with Johannes Radebe. But that hasn’t stopped her waltzing back to the Big Finish recording studio for River Song’s next volume of full-cast audio adventures. 

War Widow is a box set of four full-cast audio drama adventures, in which the popular Doctor Who character is thrust into the heart of the Time War. The Daleks don’t know what’s coming for them! 

The first two episodes guest star Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, who’s spent too many years avoiding the conflict, and can’t run for much longer. He’s finally heading deep into the maelstrom of the great war, but he has his wife by his side.  

The Death and Life of River Song: War Widow is now available to pre-order for just £24.99 (download to own) or £35.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD) exclusively here. Please note: the collector’s edition CD box set is strictly limited to 1,250 copies and will not be re-pressed. 

The four episodes in the box set are: 

The Shape of Fear by James Kettle

The Stormcage is attacked by creatures recruiting for the Time War, and the Doctor saves its most dangerous prisoner. He takes River into hiding on a remote world, whose rulers reject science. 

But spectres stalk the unwary, as the land itself becomes the enemy. And when the Doctor is lost, River discovers that the worst thing to do is to become emotional… 

Bad Timing by Matt Fitton 

River knows this Doctor’s time is almost over. She can’t save him, but he wants to save her. 

Trying to escape the Time War, they end up deeper inside it, on a Time Lord mission threatening the fabric of causality. But the Daleks are to blame for the Doctor’s fate – and River will make them pay. 

Unchained Melodies by Lisa McMullin 

River Song takes a moment to find herself, to discover her true potential... and put a stop to it before it even gets started! 

Is she the Woman Who Killed the Doctor? Or the Woman Who Wins the War? In the maelstrom that is the Time War, she can be both and neither all at once. 

The Reality Director by John Dorney 

We go behind the scenes of the making of the latest River Song adventure with cast and crew. 

The Death and Life of River Song: War Widow has a guest cast including Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks, as well as Helen Pearson (Hollyoaks), Safiyya Ingar (The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles), and Nimmy March (Law & Order: UK), plus further names to be announced. 

Alex Kingston said: “What’s exciting about River being in the Time War is that she’s never been there before! She’s been on the edges, but has never actually participated. And in this particular box set, I get to see unborn regenerations of myself and I also get to have another adventure with one of my greatest foes, the Daleks.” 

Script editor Matt Fitton added: “In this box set, we are throwing River into the Time War. And given the practicalities of the scheduling, it made sense to make it a bit more of an anthology with a variety of different writers tackling the setting. The Time War lends itself to exploring different approaches and thrilling scenarios! 

“In the first two episodes, the Doctor gets stuck with River in the Time War and really he wants to try and save her. The Eighth Doctor within the Time War is somebody who is trying to do his best to help where he can. But River being River, with her knowledge of the Doctor’s life, knows that his fate is coming for him. The Eighth Doctor is not going to survive the Time War. So she’s trying her best to save him, to protect him, and taking on the Doctor role in a way.” 

The Death and Life of River Song: War Widow is now available to pre-order for just £24.99 (download to own) or £35.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD) exclusively from www.bigfinish.com. 

All the above prices (including pre-order and multibuy bundle discounts) are fixed for a limited time only and guaranteed no later than 30 November 2026. 

Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.