Doctor Who Series 9 (2015): What We Know

A compilation article of everything we know about Doctor Who Series 9 so far. This will be continually updated as more info emerges over the coming months until broadcast.

Note: Spoilerphobes read at your own risk.

LAST UPDATED: 19 September 2015

Filming

Started: 5 January 2015.

Airdate

• 19 September 2015

Format

• 12 episodes, 1 Christmas Special

Main Cast

• Peter Capaldi – The Doctor
• Jenna Coleman – Clara Oswald

Recurring Cast

• Michelle Gomez
  – Missy
• Jemma Redgrave – Kate Stewart
• Kelly Hunter – Shadow Architect
• Clare Higgins – Ohila
• Ingrid Oliver – Osgood
• Jaye Griffiths – Jac
• Joivan Wade – Rigsy
• Maisie Williams – Ashildr

Guest Cast

• Daniel Hoffmann-Gill
• Jami Reid-Quarrell
• Aaron Neil
• India Ria Amarteifio
• Joey Price
• Dasharn Anderson
• Harki Bhambra
• Demi Papaminas
• Paul Kaye
• Sophie Stone
• Morven Christie
• Arsher Ali
• Colin McFarlane
• Sophie Stone
• Zaqi Ismail
• Steven Robertson
• Neil Fingleton
• Rufus Hound
• David Schofield
• Tom Stourton
• Ariyon Bakare
• Simon Lipkin
• Ian Conningham
• Murray McArthur
• Barnaby Kay
• John Voce
• Struan Rodger
• Rebecca Front
• Cleopatra Dickens
• Sasha Dickens
• Abhishek Singh
• Todd Kramer
• Jill Winternitz
• Nicholas Asbury
• Jack Parker
• Aidan Cook
• Reece Shearsmith
• Elaine Tan
• Neet Mohan
• Bethany Black
• Paul Courtenay Hyu

Other notes: Kelly Hunter previously played the Shadow Architect in The Stolen Earth. Clare Higgins previously played Ohila, a member of the Sisterhood of Karn in The Night of the Doctor. Colin McFarlane previously played General Austin Pierce in Torchwood: Children of Earth. Struan Rodger was the voice of the Face of Boe.

Monsters & Villains

• Missy / Colony Sarff / The Daleks / Davros (Episodes 1 & 2)
• Ghosts / The Fisher King (Episodes 3 & 4)
• Odin / The Mire / Leandro (Episodes 5 & 6)
• The Zygons (Episodes 7 & 8)
• Sandmen (Episode 9)
• The Raven (Episode 10)
• The Veil (Episode 11)
• The Judoon / The Hath (Cameos)

Writers

• Steven Moffat
  
• Toby Whithouse
• Jamie Mathieson
• Catherine Tregenna
• Peter Harness
• Sarah Dollard
• Mark Gatiss

Directors

• Hettie MacDonald (2 Episodes)
• Daniel O’Hara (2 Episodes)
• Ed Bazalgette (2 Episodes)
• Daniel Nettheim (2 Episodes)
• Justin Molotnikov (2 Episodes)
• Rachel Talalay (2 Episodes)

Trailers

Prologue

2015 Episodes

901-902. The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar

Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Hettie MacDonald.

Steven Moffat said: “The opening two-parter features lots of Daleks and this time we mean it! Clara receives a mysterious summons and has to team up with Missy to search for the Doctor in a very, very old place.”

“She’s straight back to plague the Doctor and Clara, but what brings her back into their lives is the last thing they’d expect.” Jemma Redgrave also reprises her role as UNIT’s Kate Stewart. Parts of the opener will take place on Skaro and parts on contemporary Earth.

According to a rumour in the Mirror the story will see the Doctor meeting a younger Davros and facing a dilemma of whether or not to kill him before he creates the Daleks. Shot in the second filming block with early filming taking place in Spain.

Guest starring: Kelly Hunter, Clare Higgins, Jaye Griffiths, Daniel Hoffmann-Gill (Bors), Jami Reid-Quarrell, Aaron Neil, India Ria Amarteifio, Joey Price, Dasharn Anderson, Harki Bhambra, Demi Papaminas (School girl).

903-904. Under the Lake / Before the Flood

Written by Toby Whithouse. Directed by Daniel O’Hara.

Steven Moffat described the story as a “brilliantly creepy two-parter” and “one of our scariest adventures yet!”… “Features an underwater base plagued by creeping ghosts and an island that is about to be submerged in water. But who or what is doing this and how can the Doctor stop it? It’s very scary, atmospheric and claustrophobic, much like some classic episodes.”

According to a rumour from the Mirror, guest star Neil Fingleton will play underwater creature the Fisher King in the story, a crashed alien that makes its home in Loch Ness. Shooting began with episodes 3 and 4 in the first filming block.

Guest starring: Paul Kaye (Prentis), Sophie Stone (Cass), Morven Christie (O’Donnell), Arsher Ali (Mason Bennett), Colin McFarlane, Sophie Stone, Zaqi Ismail, Steven Robertson (Pritchard), Neil Fingleton.

905-906. The Girl Who Died / The Woman Who Lived

Written by Jamie Mathieson, Steven Moffat and Catherine Tregenna. Directed by Ed Bazalgette.

Two consecutive period stories that are narratively linked, though not a traditional two-parter. Steven Moffat said: “The first features Vikings fighting mercenary robots (and a dragon!), and the second sees a group of Highwaymen dealing with a Norse god”.

Maisie Williams leads the guest cast with Moffat teasing, “It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.”

In a later interview Williams added: “There’s been a lot of speculation about whether she’s like a younger Clara or whether she is a new character completely. I’m not going to tell you which one. Whether she is good or bad is up for discussion, I think. She does put the Doctor to the test and it’s sort of a dynamic that we haven’t seen before.” Filmed as part of Block 3 with episode 6.

Guest starring: Maisie Williams, Rufus Hound (Sam Swift), David Schofield (Odin), Tom Stourton, Ariyon Bakare (Leandro), Simon Lipkin, Ian Conningham (Chuckles), Murray McArthur (Hasten), Barnaby Kay, John Voce (Fanshawe), Struan Rodger, Elisabeth Hopper (Lucie Fanshawe)

907-908 – The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion

Written by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat (Co-writer Part 2). Directed by Daniel Nettheim.

A Zygon invasion of Earth storyline featuring UNIT and the return of Osgood. Steven Moffat said: “Day of the Doctor acted as a prologue to it. In it, the Zygons made peace with the Humans, but not every Zygon decided it was okay so they’ve been raising an army, silently and now they’re rising against UNIT! We’ve been planning this forever and Osgood is in it!”

“We recently confirmed that Osgood was definitely dead and not returning – but in a show about time travel, anything can happen. The brilliant Ingrid Oliver is back in action. This time though, can the Doctor trust his number one fan?” Writer Peter Harness promised a big cliffhanger.

Guest starring: Jemma Redgrave (Kate), Ingrid Oliver (Osgood), Jaye Griffiths, Cleopatra Dickens, Sasha Dickens, Abhishek Singh, Todd Kramer, Jill Winternitz, Nicholas Asbury, Jack Parker and Aidan Cook.

909. Sleep No More

Written by Mark Gatiss. Directed by Justin Molotnikov.

A special story that will feature only old phone and camcorder footage showing the Time Lord’s followers filming their attempts to fight a creature, Doctor Who does “Cloverfield”. Executive producer Brian Minchin teased: “We’re considering not even having opening titles and just running the footage.”

Moffat said: “This is a very unique Doctor Who story from Mark Gatiss. It wasn’t possible to do such an episode ten years ago, when the show came back and Mark has been rewriting it over and over again to make it perfect. It’s a beautiful story, very eerie and special, I think it’s going to be an instant classic.”

The guest cast led by Reece Shearsmith who said: “Mark Gatiss has written a fantastic role for me in a very scary episode. It has been so exciting to be part of a very singular episode – which, I can say with authority will be unlike any previous episode of Doctor Who. ”

Guest starring: Reece Shearsmith, Elaine Tan, Neet Mohan, Bethany Black and Paul Courtenay Hyu.

910. Face the Raven

Written by Sarah Dollard. Directed by Justin Molotnikov.

Joivan Wade reprises his role as Flatline’s Rigsy who is reunited with the Doctor and Clara in another Earth invasion story featuring “glitches in reality” and “invisible streets”.

Moffat said: “An episode which leapt out as “why haven’t we done this already? This is so Doctor Who we should be doing this immediately”.  When Sarah Dollard walked in with the finalised script, it was even better! Really, this is going to be a fan-favorite, everyone will want to rewatch it.”

Guest starring: Joivan Wade (Rigsy), Robin Soans (Chronolock Guy).

911-912. Hell Bent / Heaven Sent

Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Rachel Talalay.

Episode 11 is described as one of the strangest Doctor Who episodes ever made – “It’s as ‘out-there’ as we can get” and was a “shockingly hard script to write”. It will feature just Capaldi starring as the Doctor, on his own. Episode 12 is “more in the finale tradition”.

Moffat previously said: “When episode 11 comes up in the next series of Doctor Who, you’ll see just how ludicrous a challenge I’ve set myself. Dear god! I’m in a state of panic about it. Even now, sitting here I am thinking, when I get back tonight could I just try another way of doing it? Remaining calm and knowing that even though the director is joining next week you’re going to have to wait until it’s right.” Moffat said that the penultimate episode will end with a massive cliffhanger, one he doesn’t think fans will see coming.

“When you’ll watch it, you’re going to ask how exactly the Doctor and Clara are going to pull it off.” Capaldi suggested that the series will not end happily: “The Doctor & Clara can’t have a good time for too long. They have to pay for it.”

2015 Christmas Special

Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

River Song (Alex Kingston) returns to meet with the 12th Doctor for the first time. The final episode to be filmed, shooting began in September.

[For the Series 9 post archive, head to the next page…]