The latest edition of SFX, out Wednesday, August 19, will have a load of new details about Doctor Who season 9. An online article, which can be found HERE, also gives some minor details about each episode as a teaser ahead of the magazine’s release. There’s not a lot, but that’s understandable since the magazine will have much more and you don’t want to just give away the store before it even opens, right?
Well, that just wasn’t quite enough for me, so I took those little tips and combined that information with episode info from the BBC’s Doctor Who site to come up with the episode descriptions below. For each, you’ll find the title (where available), writer, director, producer and guest cast listed.
Episodes 1 and 2: The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar
Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Hettie Macdonald
Produced by Peter Bennett
Guest cast includes Michelle Gomez as Missy, Jemma Redgrave as Kate, Kelly Hunter, Clare Higgins and Jaye Griffiths
A two-parter (obviously) that opens with the Doctor nowhere to be found. The search for the Doctor has been described by Steven Moffat as “Star Wars-y”. It marks the return of Michelle Gomez as Missy and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, so it looks like we’re getting the season 8 finale gang back together. Moffat was quoted as saying, “Everybody hide – Michelle Gomez as Missy was an instant hit last year, so she’s straight back to plague the Doctor and Clara in the series opener. But what brings her back into their lives is the last thing they’d expect.”
You have my attention.
Image courtesy BBC
Episodes 3 and 4: Under the Lake/Before the Flood
Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Daniel O’Hara
Produced by Derek Ritchie
Guest cast includes Paul Kaye, Morven Christie, Arsher Ali, Colin McFarlane, Sophie Stone, Zaqi Ismail, Steven Robertson and Neil Fingleton
This is also a two-parter and takes place in an underwater base populated by ghosts. Moffat has apparently hinted that being a timer traveler might let you meet your own ghost. He also called this episode “brilliantly creepy … one of our scariest adventures yet!” This episode was written by Toby Whithouse, who created the original Being Human and written previous Doctor Who episodes including School Reunion, The Vampires of Venice, and The God Complex.
Episode 5: The Girl Who Died
Written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat
Directed by Ed Bazalgette
Produced by Derek Ritchie
Guest cast includes Maisie Williams
It’s almost halfway through the season before we finally come to an episode that wraps in a single hour. This is the one with Maisie Williams and is described as a very good “Doctor-Clara” episode. I’m assuming that means good interaction between the Doctor and Clara and not Clara doing a lot of Doctor-ish things. Either way, I’m good with it. Oh, and co-writer Jamie Mathieson wrote last year’s Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline.
Image courtesy BBC
Episode 6: The Woman Who Lived
Written by Catherine Tregenna
Directed by Ed Bazalgette
Produced by Derek Ritchie
Guest cast includes Rufus Hound as Sam Swift
This episode has guest star Rufus Hound as Sam Swift, a highwayman. The story is described as very character driven and was written by Catherine Tregenna who wrote four episodes of Torchwood – Out of Time, Captain Jack Harkness, Meat, and Adam. That’s not much, but I’ll take what I can get.
Episodes 7 and 8: The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
Written by Peter Harness
Directed by Daniel Nettheim
Produced by Peter Bennett
Guest cast includes Jemma Redgrave, Ingrid Oliver, Jaye Griffiths, Rebecca Front, Cleopatra Dickens, Sasha Dickens, Abhishek Singh, Todd Kramer, Jill Winternitz, Nicholas Asbury, Jack Parker, Aidan Cook… and the Zygons!
And another two-parter, but with good reason. The Zygons return, and so does Ingrid Oliver as Osgood. The scale of this double episode is apparently fairly big. Steven Moffat calls it “a sort of global urban thriller” and the plot stems from something that began in the big 50th anniversary episode. In addition to Ingrid Oliver, Jemma Redgrave is also involved which means Kate Stewart and U.N.I.T. will be involved.
Image courtesy BBC
Episode 9: Sleep No More
Written by Mark Gatiss
Directed by Justin Molotnikov
Produced by Nikki Wilson
Guest cast includes Reece Shearsmith, Elaine Tan, Neet Mohan, Bethany Black and Paul Courtenay Hyu
All Steven Moffat would say about this Mark Gatiss-penned episode is it is “unusual.” The episode guest stars actor, comedian, and writer Reece Shearsmith who played Patrick Troughton in the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time.
Episode 10: Face the Raven
Written by Sarah Dollard
Directed by Justin Molotnikov
Produced by Nikki Wilson
Guest cast includes Joivan Wade as Rigsy.
Remember last year’s wonderfully insane Flatline? Well, Joivan Wade who played Rigsy will reprise his role in this episode. Keeping with his close-lipped stance, Moffat only said “it’s a terrific idea” when referring to this installment.
Image courtesy BBC
Episodes 11 and 12: Heaven Sent/Hell Bent
Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Rachel Talalay
Produced by Peter Bennett
There isn’t much that’s been said about this, yet another two-parter, except that Steven Moffat has promised a “very special” cliffhanger in episode 11. I guess if there has to be a cliffhanger, having it in the penultimate episode means it should be resolved by the end of episode 12. If not, we may have to wait for the 2015 Christmas Special.
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Doctor Who season 9 premieres Saturday, September 19 at 9/8c on BBC America!
Visit the Official Doctor Who Website
Visit the BBC’s Official Doctor Who Website
