Doctor Who will return for a new season this autumn.
This news summary will be updated regularly as more details are revealed, with the latest updates at the top of each section. Rumours and unconfirmed reports will be marked with a *.
Episode 5: ‘The Girl Who Died’
Written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat.
Directed by Ed Bazalgette (Filming block 3).
Guest cast*: Maisie Williams, David Schofield as Odin, Tom Stourton, Ariyon Bakare as Leandro, Simon Lipkin, Ian Conningham as Chuckles, Murray McArthur as Hasten, Daniel Fearn as Baxter, Barnaby Kay, John Voce as Mr Fanshawe, Struan Rodger as Clayton (it has not been confirmed if these actors will be in Episode 5, Episode 6 or both).
Official synopsis: “Captured by Vikings, the Doctor and Clara must help protect their village from Space Warriors from the future: the Mire. Outnumbered and outgunned, their fate seems inevitable. So why is the Doctor preoccupied with a single Viking girl?”
Brian Minchin: “We couldn’t believe the Doctor hadn’t properly met Vikings before. They find themselves in a small, fighty Nordic village, with the Doctor doing all he can to persuade them not to fight the alien warriors that are menacing them. It doesn’t quite work out as he planned.”
Steven Moffat: “In a backwater of history, in a little Viking village where all the warriors have just been slaughtered, a young girl called Ashildr is about to make a desperate mistake. The Mire are the deadliest mercenaries in the galaxy, famed for being unstoppable and without mercy – and Ashildr has just declared war on them. The Doctor and Clara have twelve hours, to turn a handful of farmers and blacksmiths into a fighting force ready to face down Odin himself. And there’s more – because this is the day when the Doctor remembers where he’s seen his own face before.”
Steven Moffat: “Once you see what [Maisie Williams] is up to you’ll appreciate what a clever idea [the role] was. It’s a significant role, we’re not just throwing her away … she is not playing a returning character. She’s a new character, she’s not a character from the Doctor’s past.”
Peter Capaldi: “They are real Vikings! They are not Robot-Vikings or Space-Vikings. In Viking times on Earth. Which is great. And that’s when we meet…erm….some more Vikings.”
Steven Moffat: “Those two are exceptional! The first part features Vikings fighting mercenary robots (and a dragon!)…”
Jenna Coleman: “We do an episode with some Vikings.”
Peter Capaldi: “…seeing Vikings on a spaceship is so incredible Doctor Who-ish. I walked in and saw [Jenna] in a spacesuit on a spaceship with a pile of Vikings and it just looked absolutely amazing.”
Maisie Williams: “Whether [my character] is good or bad is up for discussion, I think. She does put the Doctor to the test and it’s sort of a dynamic that we haven’t seen before.”
Maisie Williams: “I’m so excited to be working on Doctor Who as it’s such a big and important part of British Culture. I can’t wait to meet the cast and crew and start filming, especially as we’ll be shooting not too far from my home town.”
Steven Moffat: “We’re changing the rhythm of [Doctor Who] quite a bit. For a long while, those 45-minute stories were the backbone of Doctor Who. The rule I’ve got is that you won’t be absolutely certain whether a show is going to be a two-parter or not. With each of the two-parters we’re doing, there’s a substantial difference between the two halves.”
Steven Moffat: “We’re thrilled to have Maisie Williams joining us on Doctor Who. It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.”
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