Who Dies in Doctor Who?

The opening story the new series of Doctor Who will see one of the regulars killed off – ever since that was revealed earlier this week fans have been speculating over who’ll be getting a visit from the Grim Reaper. We take a look at the three regulars and River Song and put forward the cases for and against each of them being the likely victim.

The Doctor (Matt Smith)

Let’s start with the man at the top; the Doctor. The biggest argument against the Doctor being the victim is his regenerative powers – if someone ‘kills him’ he’ll simply regenerate…or will he? Time Lords have been killed before and not regenerated – see the original series for several examples.  The Doctor is also the central character and without him there’s no show. However, it’s already been hinted at that the Doctor is killed – by River Song no least! In last year’s two-part story The Time of Angels and Flesh & Stone it was revealed River was in prison for murdering someone and it was strongly implied it was the Doctor. So does River kill the Doctor in the opening story?

Amy Pond (Karen Gillan)

A companion hasn’t been properly killed off since Adric in Earthshock in the 1980s – to the cheers of countless fans. Amy is popular with fans so killing her off would be a big shock and a reminder that sometimes the price of travelling with the Doctor is fatality. The impact on the Doctor and new husband Rory would also make good drama – and possibly tension between the two. However, actress Karen Gillan has been spotted filming subsequent episodes but we know how Steven Moffat likes to mess about with time within the series so that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill)

Rory was killed twice last year (technically speaking) so surely producers wouldn’t kill him off again? He first met his demise in the quirky episode Amy’s Choice but that was in a dream-world so he didn’t really die. He properly died though in Cold Blood when he was shot by a Silurian and then wiped out of existence by one of the cracks in times. His resurrection came in The Pandorica Opens as an Auton replica but by the finale The Big Bang he was his proper self again – but is that resurrection destined to be short lived? Arthur Darvill too has been spotted filming subsequent episodes but again Steven Moffat played about with time several times last year so that means nothing.

River Song (Alex Kingston)

The mysterious River Song is back once more to ‘aide’ the Doctor but this time around it looks like her secret – just who she is – is set to be revealed. Does that revelation set in motion a chain of events resulting in her death? Technically speaking killing off River is the most obvious outcome as she’s a guest star and not part of the regular cast – but River has already died. We saw her (apparent) demise in Forest of the Dead when she sacrificed herself. So surely her end then means she must survive the events yet to come? Time can be re-written, a theme of last year’s series and the Christmas Special, which actually means River’s fate could yet change and perhaps the Grim Reaper is destined for her?

So who do you think will be killed off in the new series of Doctor Who? Post your suggestions below!