Series 8 news and beyond - may contain spoilers!

Hmm, that's a familiar sight.

Series 8 Update

A further update to incorporate Moffat's comments - beware hyperbole!

1. Deep Breath. Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Ben Wheatley.
The Paternoster Gang and the Clockwork Droids return, alongside a T-Rex in Victorian era Thames. "It's a huge introductory show. What if your best friend was somebody else? It's really about Clara trying to cope with that - and whether or not she even likes who he is, mixed in with a truly terrifying monster."

2.Into the Dalek. Written by Phil Ford. Directed by Ben Wheatley.
Fantastic Voyage and The Invisible Enemy seem to have influenced this year's Dalek tale. "We've done a really good Dalek one by saying they're nasty. It's actually quite a gritty Dalek adventure. We go without question into the most dangerous place in the universe - the last place the Doctor should be, and you will know that by the end of the pre-titles."

3. Robots of Sherwood. Written by Mark Gatiss. Directed by Paul Murphy.
The Doctor and Clara meet Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Plenty of joshing banter in this one. "It's the Doctor meets Robin Hood. And it's about being a hero. The Doctor's going through a period of his life where he's worrying about whether he counts as a good man. It's very, very funny. Everything you want in a good Robin Hood is going to be there."

4. Listen. Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon.
“When you talk to yourself, what if the person you’re talking to isn’t really you?” Features a minotaur-like monster, plus Danny Pink, a teacher at Coal Hill School. Anderson (not his first appearance by the way). "A complete departure for me in terms of writing Doctor Who. A tiny guest cast, no CGI. It's the story of a date and the Doctor having what appears to be a mild nervous breakdown. There's a little germ of Coupling in it. It's actually quite a scary one. I sometimes wonder: "What does the Doctor do when there's nothing going on? Does he go and find something to poke a stick at?" Of course he must. Essentially it's downtime for the Doctor. But don't worry, it involves a monster."

5. Time Heist Written by Steve Thompson. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon.
The Doctor and Clara come face to face with the mysterious Ms Delphox. "It's like a heist movie done with Doctor Who. It's got a cracking monster in it, one of Neill Gorton's finest creations. And Keeley Hawes."

6.The Caretaker. Written by Gareth Roberts. Directed by Paul Murphy.
The Doctor is Coal Hill School's caretaker. Why? "An absolute hoot of an episode with some surprisingly serious bits in it. If you did know somebody like the Doctor and you did think it was okay to slip away with him, what effect would that have on your life? What would that do to the people around you? I sit and watch this one to cheer myself up. I suppose it's not unlike The Lodger in certain respects."

7. Kill The Moon. Written by Peter Harness. Directed by Paul Wilmshurst.
Partially filmed in Lanzarote, sadly not the follow up to Planet of Fire AFAIK! "Proper drama. With monsters and all the Doctor Who stuff that you could want. It's probably quite a big statement of where we are now with the show. This might be where you can argue that the new approach is, for the first time, seen uncluttered by any of the old approach. It's very strong. And there's a callback to a past episode. Sort of. You'll see."

8. Mummy on the Orient Express. Written by Jamie Mathieson. Directed by Paul Wilmshurst.
Guest cast includes Frank Skinner’s and Singer-songwriter Foxes. "Brilliant script. Brilliant idea for a monster. It looks stunning in a very glamorous way. And it has Foxes singing. There's a callback to something from Matt's first series. Sometimes I play a long game. And sometimes I just think "We never actually tied that off...shall we just go and sort that now?" Usually because I think it would be incredibly funny. I like the idea that the Doctor takes that long. "Yes, I'll be there in a moment..." Several years later..."

9. Flatline. Written by Jamie Mathieson. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon.
People are going missing and strange graffiti is appearing. Meanwhile, the Doctor finds himself in a shrinking TARDIS.  "It's a horror story. It starts off with a very .... idea and becomes really quite frightening by the end. A scary one. A proper scary one with one of our best ever sight gags in it. It runs throughout the episode and the climax of this particular gag, I think, is just glorious. I remember reading it out at the read through and everyone was just clapping and cheering at Jamie Mathieson's idea."

10. Child's Play. Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Directed by Sheree Folkson.
Last episode of the series to be filmed, the cast will feature child actors. "It's a beautiful script; it's really lyrical and poetic, and boldly so. A fairytale, but not in the sense that I've tended to write a fairytale. Heartfelt, eloquent, quite, quite different. The main visual idea is so clever. I think it's going to be a stunner."

11 & 12. The Gates of Paradise/Death in Heaven. Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Rachel Talalay.
A two-part finale. Features Cybermen and UNIT. The Doctor also has to contend with the mysterious Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere. "The finale. Quite a strong emotional story to this. It's about Clara and the Doctor and the fact that the way they interact might not be healthy for everyone around them. That sounds very bleak but don't worry, there's lots of nonsense in it too. It's high octane action adventure, with Cybermen. And some proper UNIT stuff."

Some of the titles are speculation. I still believe we'll see The Master, but he's being kept firmly under wraps. There is a story arc through the series.

Crazy theory time, but I believe that Moffat may just do it. What if the Gatekeeper is the first (onscreen) female incarnation of the Master?

Nope, I don't believe it either.

The Rani perhaps?
Sil?

Perhaps she's an acolyte of The Master?

You know, with all the hype going on concerning news from this year's Comic Con, it just seems a bit odd that after Doctor Who has dominated Comic Con for the last five years, this year they have almost no presence at all.

They're going for global domination this year.

It'll be interesting to see how viral the planned world tour goes on each of its stops, and whether they would have gotten more mileage out of Comic Con.

As of the day after tomorrow, we will be down to three weeks before the start of Series 8. It's been a long wait since Christmas, but we're nearly there!

I'm out on the evening of 23rd August, but will catch up with Deep Breath again the following day.

So we can all post our thoughts on the full plot and spoil the whole thing for you?

The clue was in the word "again", Slow Kidney.

I'll take that as a "yes," then.

Patrick wrote:As of the day after tomorrow, we will be down to three weeks before the start of Series 8.  It's been a long wait since Christmas, but we're nearly there!

w00t!

The" co="Ordinator wrote:I'm out on the evening of 23rd August, but will catch up with Deep Breath again the following day.

We will be in foreign parts, however there is satellite and we can get the beeb!

Hope you enjoy it jenkins. And your holiday.   

And, as much as you may want, you can't spoil it for me Slow Kidney. I could do so for you, but won't. Unless you can't resist clicking on this tag...............

Spoiler:

Curses! Foiled again.

The" co="Ordinator wrote:Hope you enjoy it jenkins. And your holiday.   

Thank you - anticipation is building   

Christmas Special to be filmed next month - Moffat is only just finishing it off now, there's a surprise: not.

They're hoping to start on Series 9 before Christmas, maybe even straight after the Special. I believe it will be Moffat's swansong.

C=O, do you think DW is now (more or less) fixed to an autumn broadcast so series nine will be shown in autumn 2015? I'd be very happy if this was the case (I mean broadcast each autumn rather than moving about the year with split series and so on).

Logically yes, certainly for this year and next. As and when Moffat leaves, who knows what the BBC plan.

I'm still half expecting a special to coincide with Easter 2015/10 years of Nu Who.

Five years for Moffat, four total series plus a special, and overseeing two Doctors. That's about on a par with what RTD did in the role. So, the operative question is: who will be the next producer?

Like I've long said, Chibbers is the ideal man for the job IMO.

The wrote:Like I've long said, Chibbers is the ideal man for the job IMO.

I have no view on who should be the next producer (mainly because I know nothing about television production!) but I can imagine the howls of outrage from some sections of fandom were he to become producer...  

Mind you, whoever gets the job there will be some who consider it to be the worst appointment in the programme's entire fifty year history while others insist that the new incumbent will be the saviour of Doctor Who after the 'disaster of Moffat'.

I would have thought Toby Whithouse (Being Human) would be a name in consideration.

I think it'll be somebody that hasn't written WHO yet, they'll probably take the 'entirely different' approach.

The "Entirely Different" approach is, I think, a given.

My prediction: once Moffat's departure is formally announced (probably sometime in 2015), speculation as to who will replace him will begin in earnest. And in certain internet haunts (Gallifrey Base), for every name floated as a potential showrunner, a minimum of 10 people will chime in to say that's the worst suggestion in the world because (fill in the blank with an entirely pedantic, skewed world view answer), and if (insert name of person being vilified) is actually chosen to executive produce Doctor Who, I will not only stop watching the show, it will mean the end of civilization as we know it. (You simply must add some hyperbole to a statement like that if you're going to post it on the internet.)

Prediction No. 2: when Moffat's successor is formally named, and a transition period is planned out, certain internet haunts (Gallifrey Base) will go into nuclear meltdown over the number of episodes being produced, the idea that such an untalented hack is going to produce the show, and how many television screens are going beaten with a hammer before this situation gets rectified.

And then Series 10 will roll around in 2016, and we'll all love it.