As many of you might already have guessed, the end of Series 8 was far from the last time we were going to get to see Michelle Gomez in the role of Missy, the female incarnation of The Master, despite her defeat in the last episode of the series. The BBC has now officially confirmed that she’ll back in the mix, raking up trouble once again in the upcoming return of Peter Capaldi in his second stint at the helm of the TARDIS in Doctor Who Series 9.
Not only will she be back, but she’ll also be appearing right from the very beginning of the new series in a two part story that will see her going toe to toe with the Doctor and Clara again with her typically twisted sense of humour and love of ruby red lipstick. If they thought they had it tough in Series 8 with the return of the dead as a huge Cyberman army thanks to Missy’s 3W Cyber pollen exploits, then they’re in for a surprise as she gets back into her nefarious role with a whole new plan of attack, having learned a little from her previous altercation.
Series 9 will air on the 19th September 2015 with episode 1 The Magician’s Apprentice and episode 2 The Witch’s Familiar making up the two part series opener featuring Missy doing her worst. They’ve both been written by Steven Moffat, lead writer for the series, with Peter Bennett producing and Hettie Macdonald in the director’s chair, following on from the success of her previous work on Doctor Who in the award winning episode, Blink, from series three.
Filming for the new series is already underway at Cardiff’s Roath Lock studios and Michelle Gomez arrived on set on the 18th February to reprise her role as the ferociously mischievous Missy. Commenting on her return to the show, she said, “Things have been a little beige since I left Missy behind, so I’m delighted to be putting my lippie back on. I’m positively dying to see The Doctor again!”
Moffat gave away just the smallest morsel of a clue about the first two episodes as he refers to her reappearance as coming by way of a very unexpected development for the Doctor and Clara. It doesn’t really give away all that much about the plot or Missy’s latest plan, but it does start to build expectation for a very surprising two part story to start things off again.
The Beeb has also confirmed that Series 9 will also feature a host of more guest cast members, building on the long standing tradition for the time travelling sci-fi hit. This will include Jemma Redgrave, who appeared as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart in both Dark Water and Death In Heaven episodes from Doctor Who Series 8, along with Kelly Hunter, who played Shadow Architect in the Doctor Who Series 4 episode The Stolen Earth in 2008.
Clare Higgins also joins the guest cast for the opening of the series, having played Ohila, a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, in the mini-episode, The Night Of The Doctor. Jaye Griffiths, Daniel Hoffmann-Gill, Jami Reid-Quarrell, Aaron Neil, India Ria Amarteifio, Joey Price, Dasharn Anderson, Harki Bhambra and Demi Papaminas have also been included as guest cast members of the upcoming series.
