Returning River Song actress Alex Kingston has given a new interview ahead of this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, revealing what it’s like to be back on the show.

Speaking to the BBC, Kingston reveals she was surprised to be asked to return:

“I was quite surprised when I was asked to come back, but I was happy to because I just thought it would be great fun. It’s such a great character, she’s become so beloved by lots of fans and I’ve had them saying it would be so great for her to come back and to see her interacting with Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. I was actually thrilled when Steven decided he wanted to explore that too.”

And Alex seemingly was thrilled with the “slapstick” script from showrunner Steven Moffat, promising plenty of laughs and action for Christmas Day, plus a healthy dose of River Song:

“It’s a wonderful slapstick caper. There’s a lot of great laughs, there’s a lot of fabulous River one-liners. The fans are going to love the things she says and there’s a lot of play. They’re also fighting a very interesting alien played by Greg Davies. It’s a really great episode and Steven has done my character proud. I’ve been really lucky in this episode as River gets to do an awful lot. She gets to run around in snow, I’ve been flying and have done harness work against a green screen. She’s got quite a few husbands in this episode and there’s a lot of fabulous quick-fire dialogue between her and the Doctor. She gets to snog the most handsome man in the work, his character name is Ramone. It’s all going on!”

Alex’s favourite moment however was her return to the TARDIS set, in all new form since her last outing:

“The favourite moment so far for me was stepping back on to the TARDIS, because the interior of it has changed yet again. I’ve been on two different TARDIS incarnations, and to walk into this one and know it’s a familiar space but at the same time it’s different, was great. I love this one - everything works which is really fun, I stand there pressing all the buttons, it’s great!”

Doctor Who returns this Christmas Day at 5:15pm on BBC One with The Husbands of River Song, also scheduled to be broadcast on BBC America.