re: #4 ProMayaLiberal

Awww… how can you hate River Song? She’s one of the few people who can actually surprise the Doctor in every conceivable manner. Which, you have to admit is pretty hard to do. Amy did it through her strength of personality and character, and some of that rubbed off on River.

As to Clara/Oswin, I think Steve Moffat’s got something up his sleeve and that we’re quite possibly seeing the Teselecta at work, or some new being/creature pushing the strings.

It’s the mystery that will drive the Doctor in to a new and different direction - where the focus is on what the meaning of Clara is, and how that affects the timeline.