Series 8 (Doctor Who)

Series 8 of Doctor Who, consisting of 12 episodes, began airing on 23 August 2014, and ended on 8 November 2014. Filming began on 6 January 2014, and ended on 7 August of the same year. This was the first full series to feature the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi; he was joined by Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald as primary companion throughout the entire run. Series 8 was the first series since series 5 in 2010 to be broadcast straight with no series split halfway through it, and the first series of the revival not to consist of 13 episodes (excluding Christmas and other specials), instead running for 12. The overarching story elements revolve around characters who have died in the episode being greeted to 'Heaven,' by a woman named Missy, where the heaven is revealed to be a data cloud to store the minds of the deceased, as Missy (The Master) upgrades the bodies into Cybermen before manipulating the minds to delete their emotions and put them into their old cyber-upgraded bodies as an army. This is a plan to lure the Doctor into a trap so she can get her 'friend back.'

Cast
Series 8 saw the debut of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. Capaldi was announced in a live television special, Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, on 4 August 2013. The previous Doctor, Matt Smith, announced he was leaving on 1 June of the same year.

The new Doctor was joined by Series 7, Part 2's companion, Clara Oswald, as played by Jenna Coleman, in her first full series.

Samuel Anderson joined the cast as a new recurring character, Danny Pink, a fellow teacher at Coal Hill School. Although initially reported by media as being a new companion for the Doctor, in fact the character never actually took on an official companion role during the course of the season.

The Paternoster Gang returned, each using a sonic device designed in a Blue Peter competition in the series. Kate Stewart, Osgood and UNIT also appeared.

This series also saw the return of the Master, now in a female incarnation known as Missy, played by Michelle Gomez.

Recurring

 * The Twelfth Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * The Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman
 * Danny Pink - Samuel Anderson, Remi Gooding
 * Courtney Woods - Ellis George
 * Missy - Michelle Gomez
 * Vastra - Neve McIntosh
 * Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
 * Strax - Dan Starkey
 * Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave
 * Osgood - Ingrid Oliver
 * Mr Armitage - Nigel Betts
 * Seb - Chris Addison
 * Clara's gran - Sheila Reid
 * Rigsy - Joivan Wade
 * Robin Hood - Tom Riley

Guest

 * Half-Face Man - Peter Ferdinando
 * Journey Blue - Zawe Ashton
 * Morgan Blue - Michael Smiley
 * Gretchen Carlisle - Laura Dos Santos
 * Sheriff of Nottingham - Ben Miller
 * Psi - Jonathan Bailey
 * Saibra - Pippa Bennett-Warner
 * Ms Delphox/Karabraxos - Keeley Hawes
 * Lundvik - Hermione Norris
 * Perkins - Frank Skinner
 * Maisie - Daisy Beaumont
 * Captain Quell - David Bamber
 * Singer - Foxes
 * Fenton - Christopher Fairbank
 * Maebh Arden - Abigail Eames
 * Samson - Jaydon Harris-Wallace
 * Bradley - Ashley Foster
 * Ruby - Harley Bird

Production
Brian Minchin, the new producer of the series, explained in the July 2013 issue of Doctor Who Magazine that "I have just spent a very happy few days meeting some scarily clever writers, and we have an incredible set of stories to work on. More adventures ahead!". In a May 2013 interview, Steven Moffat claimed that "the next season is plotted out."

The first readthrough for Series 8 was held on 17 December 2013. This was an unusually long lead time, as actual filming for the first episodes of Series 8 did not commence until 6 January 2014, with Capaldi filming his first scenes the next day. In a break from what was done with Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith and several Classic era Doctors, the first episode filmed by Capaldi is also to be the first episode to be broadcast.

Producers
Series 8 is co-executive produced by Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin. (DWM 460) Series 7's producer, Caroline Skinner, officially stepped down on 13 March 2013, and Minchin was announced as her replacement on 30 April.

Producer Marcus Wilson stepped down following production of The Time of the Doctor. His role is filled by former producers Nikki Wilson and Peter Bennett.

Writers
Steven Moffat has penned both the series opener, episode 4, and the two-part series finale, as well as co-writing on episodes 2, 5 and 6. Phil Ford wrote episode 2, Mark Gatiss wrote episode 3, Steve Thompson's script is for episode 5, and Gareth Roberts wrote episode 6 of the series. Three new writers joined the series: Peter Harness (episode 7), Jamie Mathieson (episodes 8 and 9) and Frank Cottrell Boyce (episode 10).

Directors
Ben Wheatley directed episodes one and two. Paul Murphy directed episodes 3 and 6, Douglas Mackinnon directed episodes 4, 5 and 9, Paul Wilmshurst directed episodes 7 and 8, Sheree Folkson directed episode 10, and Rachel Talalay directed the two-part finale.

Episode notes

 * This is the first series of the revived series that does not consist of 13 episodes (excluding Christmas and other specials).
 * This is the first series since Series 5 to be broadcast straight with no split.
 * Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, The Caretaker, Flatline and In the Forest of the Night all feature the appearance of a mysterious character known only as "Missy". This is analogous to the early appearances of Madame Kovarian in Series 6, and is the overall arc for the series. In Dark Water, Missy is revealed to be a female incarnation of the Master.
 * This is the first series since Series 5 to end with a two-part story, and the first since Series 6 to have an officially-designated two-parter.
 * Two episodes experienced censorship issues during the series. BBC Entertainment serving SouthEast Asia announced it was required to delete a brief sequence from the region's broadcasts of Deep Breath showing Vastra and Jenny transferring oxygen by way of a kiss due to some jurisdictions prohibiting the depiction of same-sex kissing. On 4th September 2014, BBC One announced that a brief sequence in Robot of Sherwood was to be deleted from its broadcast on 6th September out of concern that it might offend viewers in the wake of the recent execution of two Western journalists by terrorists.
 * This is the first full Doctor Who series in Australia to be rated M (for mature audiences) . This rating had previously been given to The Waters of Mars (before being reclassified the family-friendly rating of PG), the TV Movie, Attack of the Cybermen & The Ambassadors of Death. It would also later be given to Series 9 on release.
 * This series is the first series since Series 4 not to feature River Song.
 * Counting The Day of the Doctor as part of Series 7, this is the first series in which the 9th and 10th Doctor TARDIS interior does not appear. And as of 2016, it is the only series not to feature it since it was briefly shown during the flashback to Pompeii in Series 9 when the Doctor remembered why he had been given his face.
 * The title sequence of Death in Heaven has Jenna Coleman credited before Peter Capaldi and Clara's eyes appear instead of the Doctor's, thus marking the first time for a companion both being credited before the main incarnation of the Doctor in the episode and replacing the Doctor's face in the opening credits.

Aliens and enemies

 * Half-Face Man
 * Clockwork Droids
 * Daleks
 * Dalek antibodies
 * The Sheriff of Nottingham
 * Robot Knights
 * Ms Delphox
 * Madame Karabraxos
 * The Teller
 * Skovox Blitzer
 * Spider germs
 * Foretold
 * Gus
 * Boneless
 * Seb
 * Missy
 * Cybermen

Novels

 * The Blood Cell
 * Silhouette
 * The Crawling Terror

Comic books

 * Four Doctors (before Dark Water)
 * The Fractures (before Dark Water)