Series 9 (Doctor Who)

Series 9 of Doctor Who began filming on 5 January 2015, for an airdate of autumn 2015 with a total of 13 episodes. . This will be Peter Capaldi's second series as the Twelfth Doctor and Jenna Coleman's third series as Clara Oswald, making her the longest running companion of the BBC Wales series to date.

Toby Whithouse returns for series 9, having written episodes 3 and 4, which Steven Moffat describes as "a brilliantly creepy two-parter". New to Doctor Who, but not the DWU, this series will be Catherine Tregenna — the Torchwood writer will be penning an episode of the series. Tregenna will be the first female Who writer since Helen Raynor's two-parter in series 4, and the only one to date under Moffat's rule as show runner.

In DWM 480, Michelle Gomez confirmed that she will return in series 9 as, the latest incarnation of the Master who served as the central villain in series 8. Moffat teased in DWM 475, "I've figured out the cliffhanger to the penultimate episode of [series 9]. And it's a whopper. Ohh, I don’t think you'll see this coming!" On 19 February 2015, it is announced Gomez will return for the opening episode.

On 17 December 2014, at a press conference for the Christmas special Last Christmas, Steven Moffat revealed the title of the first episode of the regular series to be The Magician's Apprentice. The title was additionally revealed on-screen, at the end of Last Christmas. The second episode is titled The Witch’s Familiar.

For long time there had been huge debate on whether Jenna Coleman would leave or stay after Last Christmas, but, after speaking at a press launch for the Christmas special at London's BFI earlier in December, Jenna revealed: "It's wonderful – I've got another series of stories with the Doctor." She added, "I couldn't walk away with the story being unresolved and there's so much more to do – I think they've finally just reached a point where they really understand each other!" and executive producer Steven Moffat confirmed this: "Jenna is obviously in all of the next series. There was a certain amount of toing and froing, wasn't there, Jenna? It occurred to us all that we don't start filming until January, so we could keep it a proper secret." Jenna also hinted at what to expect in series 9: "Just when Clara was feeling more comfortable in the relationship, it's thrown something totally new up."

Hettie MacDonald will direct the two-part series opener, making her the only woman to direct a series opener following Doctor Who's return to television in 2005 and one of only four women to direct Doctor Who television openers in the show's history. The last was Fiona Cumming in 1982. MacDonald has not directed an episode since Blink. Also joining series 9's direction team is Daniel O'Hara, whose online CV reports he is directing two 60-minute episodes for the show. This series marks the first time in the revived series that two-part stories have aired back to back, with no one-part episodes separating them.

Regular writer Mark Gatiss will also be writing an episode, and according to him it's going to be scary. He said, in an interview with the Telegraph, that "I'm in the midst of that right now – I broke off to come here today, in fact, but I'm hoping to finish the script tonight,” and added, “It has been a tough nut to crack, but I'm delighted with how scary it is. I can't say any more than that."

Main

 * The Twelfth Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman

Recurring

 * - Michelle Gomez
 * Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave

Guest

 * Cass - Sophie Stone
 * TBA - Colin McFarlane
 * Prentis - Paul Kaye
 * TBA - Morven Christie
 * TBA - Arsher Ali
 * TBA - Zaqi Ismail
 * TBA - Steven Robertson
 * TBA - Neil Fingleton
 * TBA - Kelly Hunter
 * TBA - Clare Higgins
 * TBA - Jaye Griffiths
 * TBA - Daniel Hoffmann-Gill
 * TBA - Jami Reid-Quarrell
 * TBA - Aaron Neil
 * TBA - India Ria Amarteifio
 * TBA - Joey Price
 * TBA - Dasharn Anderson
 * TBA - Harki Bhambra
 * TBA - Demi Papaminas

Rumours

 * As the first episode was filmed in late February, the working title for the first episode that was filmed is reportedly Written in the Stars.