If you don’t necessarily recognise the name, and can’t stop yourself from thinking Harry Potter, you might know the face a bit better as former Spooks star, Hermione Norris (image: Hermione Norris as Grace Carter in The Crimson Field), who has been confirmed to star alongside Peter Capaldi in one of the opening episodes of Doctor Who Series 8. Filming of the new series has been underway since January 2014, and we’ve been getting little snippets of information about the episodes and guest stars ever since Capaldi was named as the 12th Doctor Who, and Norris is the latest addition.
In addition to the announcement of the guest appearance, the BBC has also confirmed that Series 8 will be ready to woowooowoooo in time for Autumn 2014, so we’ll be getting to see the new Dr Who in action pretty soon. We already knew that Series 7 first aired on the 1st September 2012, and that filming of 8 would be coming to a close at the end of August 2014, so it’s a timeline that we were expecting, but this is the first official confirmation of the planned Autumn air date.
If that isn’t enough news, the good old Beeb has also confirmed that the episode featuring Hermione will be filmed in Lanzarote, taking the cast and crew to the island for the first time since 1984. According to Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, the episode sees the Doctor “returning to the scene of an old adventure – but there have been sinister changes since his last visit”.
If you’re up on your Dr Who history, you’ll probably know that this is a reference to the 1984 serial of four episode from the 21st season (the counting restarted in 2005, by the way, when the BBC brought the Doctor back, which is why Capaldi begins his tenure in Series 8) called Planet Of Fire. It was also filmed in Lanzarote and featured the desert world of Sarn, so the new episode will see the recently regenerated Who heading back to the heat of the planet, but with a few nasty surprises waiting for him.
It’s also been confirmed that the episode has been written by Wallander and Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell writer, Peter Harness, who has previously worked with regular Who scriptwriter, Mark Gatiss, on the Spanish flu drama, The Forgotten Fallen. It will be produced by Peter Bennett, who has worked on the show, along with Torchwood, previously, and directed by Paul Wilmshurst (Strike Back, Da Vinci’s Demons).
Speaking to the BBC about her casting in the episode, Hermione Norris commented that, “It’s exciting to be part of such an iconic show, and one that my kids can watch!!!”. Moffat was also pretty pleased with the inclusion of Norris into his plans for Series 8, describing it as a “testament to the quality of Peter Harness’s intense and emotional script”, so we’re expecting a real nerve jangling, heart string tugging episode.
As well as being Ros Myers, Chief of Section D for three years in Spooks, Norris also played Karen Marsden in 1990s comedy drama, Cold Feet. Her most recent BBC outing has been in The Crimson Field, playing Matron Grace Carter in the British drama series.
Hermione Norris will also be joined by Ellis George, Tony Osoba and Phil Nice for the Lanzarote-based episode. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the news that Ben Miller will also be guest starring in an episode of Series 8 alongside Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, who continues her role as Clara Oswald, as well as other guest cast members, Tom Riley and Keeley Hawes (also of Spooks fame).
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