I’m glad I could sleep in today, because I woke up from an awesome dream world that I didn’t want to leave, so I went back to sleep. Are people supposed to be able to fall back into REM sleep where dreaming occurs? I don’t know if that’s normal, but I’m grateful for those times when I want to and I can.

I dreamed that I was on the set of Doctor Who where they were filming the seventh season. I was a guest at first, just observing as they set up for scenes, and then it seemed as though I was part of the crew and assisting here and there. Then I became a stand-in for Alex Kingston, the actress behind River Song. Dressed like her (which I did for Halloween last year) and basically shadowing her around the set. My heart was racing from the excitement!

River Song is my favorite Doctor Who character. Yes, of COURSE I love the Doctors, too. But River is mysterious, hilarious, smart, badass, AND sexy. She’s my hero. Am I too old to have a hero? I hope not. Everyone needs a hero.

Yes, I am perfectly aware that River Song is a fictitious character and no, I am not a weird stalker. Given my history with meeting famous/important people whom I admire, I can predict my reaction should I ever actually have the opportunity to speak with Alex Kingston: I will blurt out some sort of greeting with an unintentionally odd and/or affected intonation, and then if I haven’t yet swallowed my tongue I will say something interminably stupid that will make me kick myself for the rest of my life, and then I will hang around awkwardly because I want to say more and to just be cool about it but instead I will overstay my welcome and give off creepy vibes. Because I’m a winner like that!

It’s so strange because I’m usually extroverted and have no problem meeting people who are famous or of “high importance.” Especially people who are full of themselves, because that just makes me laugh inside. “Why are you so cocky?” I ask with my inner voice (usually/hopefully). “You’re just a stupid human like the rest of us.” And then if I say something funny and they don’t laugh, I shrug my shoulders and move on my life.

But not with Alex Kingston. I already know that in real life, should I meet her at a convention (which is more realistic than meeting her on set, for obvious reasons: Season 7 is filming right now and I don’t have any immediate plans to go to Great Britain, plus there’s a good chance that this will be the last season in which we see River Song. I hope not, but I have to prepare myself for that possibility). Uh… where was I? Oh! Should I meet Alex Kingston at a convention, I will be a bumbling idiot and if a photo is taken of this meeting, I will have a deer-in-the-headlights look on my face perhaps coupled with an awkward pose and four chins. I’m looking forward to it!

So now maybe it’s more clear as to why I didn’t want to wake up from my dream, which actually had more to it. Cue foggy fade to dream world.

After some time on the Doctor Who set, I had some interaction with Matt Smith as the Doctor that could vaguely be described as running lines and watching him get into character. There were long banquet tables set up in a rectangle with people sitting at chairs all around—sort of like a table reading, I guess? On one end, the costume department had stuff set up on the tables and gave me a red flannel shirt to try on, but it was too small. Stephan Moffat shook his head and said, “No, that’s not going to work.” Karen Gillan/Amy Pond looked at me with both sympathy and boredom. She was to wear the other shirt which fit her just fine. The costuming department set out to alter the shirt or find a bigger one that would fit me. That’s when I realized that I was going to take over part of the role of River Song.

(Holy shit. I’m surprised I didn’t pee the bed while this was happening.)

At that point, I found myself hanging around Alex Kingston as she sifted through her bags for something while paying little attention to me. As I would in real life, I stood there quietly trying to be cool. But then I was able to communicate something to her! I got her attention and said that as I was preparing myself to be her substitute actor, I based my attitude and actions on Alex Kingston as River Song, because River Song was nothing without her. She was really touched by my statement and said, very sincerely, how sweet I was to think that way. What can I say; we really bonded at that moment.

And then we were friends and had ADVENTURES!!! Doctor Who style. Safe-breaking, running around in ball gowns solving puzzles that would lead to the downfall of Bad Guys, etc. I guess eventually they found a shirt that fit me. At one point someone gave a bag of candy to Matt Smith in the studio near the table-reading area, but apparently we were filming and so he, in his excited Doctor mode, was SO EXCITED about the candy but I knew something was wrong with it. Sure enough, he opened a piece and it was dried fish, not candy! A message from the Bad Guys. Clearly.

I don’t remember the details much anymore because I’ve been awake for an hour and a half now and other things overwrote those memories in my brain even though I was trying hard to hold on to them. Sadness.

Oh my God, I really hope that my Doctor Who dream is foreshadowing. Not even about acting as River Song’s stand-in, or Alex Kingston’s friend, but just being on the set of Doctor Who. Maybe it’s my inner regret for not paying attention to social media during the filming of Doctor Who season six when they were in southern Utah… just a few hours’ drive to the south and I could have been there. Damn. Now I’m going to have to find my way to Cardiff. How will I get on set from there? Maybe there will be a job opening or an unlocked door? No, it’s not practical.

But hey, a girl can dream.