A Good Man Goes to War

218 – "A Good Man Goes to War"
Doctor Who episode
River Song reveals her true identity to the Doctor
Cast
Doctor Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor)
Companions Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) Alex Kingston (River Song)
Others Frances Barber – Madame Kovarian Charlie Baker – Fat One Dan Johnston – Thin One Christina Chong – Lorna Bucket Joshua Hayes – Lucas Damian Kell – Dominicus Neve McIntosh – Madame Vastra Catrin Stewart – Jenny Flint Richard Trinder – Captain Harcourt Annabel Cleare – Eleanor Henry Wood – Arthur Dan Starkey – Commander Strax Simon Fisher-Becker – Dorium Maldovar Danny Sapani – Colonel Manton Hugh Bonneville – Henry Avery Oscar Lloyd – Toby Avery Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Cybermen
Production
Directed by	Peter Hoar
Written by	Steven Moffat
Produced by	Marcus Wilson
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Piers Wenger Beth Willis
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Production code	2.7
Series	Series 6
Length	50 minutes
Originally broadcast	4 June 2011
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "The Almost People" "Let's Kill Hitler"

"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011 and served as a mid-series finale. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Peter Hoar.

The episode follows the cliffhanger of "The Almost People", which reveals Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) had been operating a Flesh duplicate of herself and is in fact held in a remote location and about to give birth. Alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy's husband Rory (Arthur Darvill) muster an army of allies and set out to find both Amy and her child, a girl named Melody Pond.

The episode reveals the recurring character River Song (Alex Kingston) is Amy and Rory's child. River's identity was kept in top secrecy, and only a few members of the cast and crew were issued the correct ending of the script. The beginning of the episode contained many different locations which were challenging for the production team. The main setting, Demons Run, was filmed in a military base and hangar in Cardiff. "A Good Man Goes to War" was watched by 7.57 million viewers in the United Kingdom and received an Appreciation Index of 88. Critical reception was mixed to positive, and the episode was nominated for the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

On 28 May 2011, immediately following the broadcast of "The Almost People", the BBC released a prequel to "A Good Man Goes to War". The prequel had Dorium talking to two Headless Monks. He gives them the brain of a Judoon, which contains a security protocol the monks need. Dorium tells them he knows what they are up to, as he has heard rumours around the area. He asks them, "All this, to imprison one child? Oh, I know what you're up to, I hear everything in this place. I even hear rumours about whose child you've taken. Are you mad? You know the stories about the Doctor? The things that man has done? God help us if you make him angry!"