Doctor Who’s eighth season was pretty exciting, and the ninth is starting to look promising, as well. This morning, BBC America announced that the BBC drama Doctor Who will be bringing back an intriguing Season 8 character. Michelle Gomez, who played Missy last season, will be returning to the hit science fiction program during the Season 9 (or Season 35, if you’d rather) premiere, which is kind of a big deal, considering how her storyline left off. In addition, there are several scheduled guest stars expected to appear in the two-part season opener.
Details on the upcoming season are fairly scarce, as the show isn’t expected to hit the schedule until next Fall. However, BBC America’s announcement notes that Gomez will be a part of the first two episodes of the season, currently titled “The Magician’s Apprentice” and “The Witch’s Familiar.” Hettie MacDonald is filming both episodes and showrunner Steven Moffat also plans to write the first two episodes of Season 9. Jemma Redgrave, who plays Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, will also be returning for the premiere. Additionally, Kelly Hunter, Clare Higgins and Jaye Griffiths are all signed on for the Season 9 opener, although we don’t know much about their roles.
There are spoilers in the following paragraph about Doctor Who Season 8, so if you aren’t caught up, now is a good time to stop reading. Everyone still here? Great.
Missy actually had a pretty big gig during Doctor Who’s eighth season. The woman was initially known as “The Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere,” making cameos early on during the season before popping up in the two-part finale. During Episode 11, Missy was actually revealed to be The Master in a huge twist, marking her as the first female to take on the role since the drama’s inception. (Luckily, there's no reason that Time Lords can't change gender.) However, when we last saw Missy, she was vaporized by a Cyberman, which could have meant her impending doom (or at least exit), but apparently didn’t.
Quite frankly, Missy was sneaky, devious and a great antagonist for the Doctor at the end of the season, so I’m not upset the show has found a way to bring her back. She’ll face off once more against Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Time Lord and his companion, Clara, who only recently spoke out to say she will definitely be returning to Doctor Who for Season 9. So, despite the rumors, she isn’t going anywhere.
While we still have a while to wait before Doctor Who returns to the schedule, it’s nice to see that the new season is already moving forward. We’ll keep you posted as more Doctor Who news breaks.
