Our new, regularly-updated round-up of everything we know about Peter Capaldi's first season as the Doctor. New information will be written in red. This update: all episode titles!
Welcome to the unique SFX Doctor Who News Accumulator, where we gather together all the reliable information we know about the 2014 series of the nation’s favourite television show. This page will deliciously fill up with all sorts of thrilling snippets of information as time passes.
Which monsters will be appearing? Who will the guest stars be? What will the episode titles be? What directors and writers will have the honour of getting the show on their CV? You'll learn it all here - we'll update the Accumulator the minute we get confirmed information.
First, some general news about what we know about series eight…
Shooting on the series will continue until August 2014. Block One filming (episodes 1 and 2) was in January/February, and Block Two shooting (episodes 4 and 5) in February/March. Block Three shooting (episodes 3 and 6) was in March/April. Block Four (episodes 7 and 8) shooting took place in May. Block Five (episode 9) was shot in June. Block Six (the series finale) filming is now underway after the readthrough on 12 June.
As of today (Tuesday 19 August) all episode titles have been announced. There are some corkers, including the pun-tastic "Robot Of Sherwood", the "Blink"-like "Listen", the Harold Pinter-like "The Caretaker", the Christmas Day afternoon movie-sounding "Mummy On The Orient Express", and "Dark Water", which reminds us of this classic public information film from the 1970s! Let's hope it's just as scary...
Episode One: "Deep Breath"
Doctor Who returns to our screens on Saturday 23 August with a feature-length episode! Time TBC. Check out an image and a teaser here .
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Ben Wheatley ( Kill List , Sightseers , A Field In England )
The story is set in the Victorian era and features the return of the Paternoster Gang (Silurian Madame Vastra, Jenny and Sontaran Strax). There are reports that the Doctor and Clara's relationship will be "spiky", at least initially.
Episode Two "Into The Dalek"
Writer: Phil Ford (co-writer, with Russell T Davies, of "The Waters Of Mars", The Sarah Jane Adventures, Wizards And Aliens , The Bill , Taggart , Coronation Street , Footballers' Wives ) and Steven Moffat. Ford offered a three-word tease concerning the episode: "Behind enemy lines". Cool!
Director: Ben Wheatley
Episode Three "Robot Of Sherwood"
Writer: Mark Gatiss (his seventh story for the show)
Director: Paul Murphy ( Wizards Vs Aliens , Brookside , Casualty )
Cast: Tom Riley (Leonardo in Da Vinci's Demons ) stars in this episode, along with Trevor Roper, who last appeared in Doctor Who in 1985 in the story "Revelation Of The Daleks". Other cast members include Ian Halland ( An Adventure In Space And Time, Sherlock, Hustle ), Sabrina Bartlett, David Benson and Roger Ashton-Griffiths, who's been in everything from The Young Ones to Young Sherlock Holmes to Game Of Thrones . And it's been revealed that comedian, actor and Who fan Ben Miller ( Armstrong & Miller , Primeval , Death In Paradise ) will be playing a villain.
Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, added: “Mark Gatiss has written us a storming villain for his new episode, and with Capaldi in the TARDIS, we knew we needed somebody special to send everybody behind the sofa. And quite frankly, it's about time Ben Miller was in Doctor Who !”
This episode was filmed in late March, with Peter Capaldi roaming the streets of Cardiff with a slightly different outfit to the one we've already seen. The ep has a major Robin Hood theme.
Episode Four "Listen"
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Douglas Mackinnon ("The Sontaran Strategem", "The Poison Sky", "The Power Of Three", "Cold War")
Episode Five "Time Heist"
Writer: Steve Thompson ( Sherlock , "The Curse Of The Black Spot", "Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS") and Steven Moffat
Director: Douglas Mackinnon
Keeley Hawes will play Ms Delphox, a powerful out of this world character with a dark secret...
Episode Six "The Caretaker"
Writer: Gareth Roberts (previously responsible for "The Shakespeare Code", "The Unicorn And The Wasp", "The Lodger" and "Closing Time", along with several Sarah Jane Adventures episodes) and Steven Moffat
Director: Paul Murphy
Cast: Nigel Betts ( Emmerdale ), Andy Gillies ( Love Soup ), Edward Harrison ( Doctors ) and good old Jimmy Vee, veteran of several Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures stories.
Episode Seven "Kill The Moon"
Writer: Peter Harness ( Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell , Wallander , Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me )
Director: Paul Wilmshurst
Cast: Will feature as guest star Hermione Norris, familiar to viewers of Spooks , The Crimson Field and Wire In The Blood . Also appearing will be actor Tony Osoba, who appeared in "classic" adventures "Destiny Of The Daleks" and "Dragonfire", plus Phil Nice ( Citizen Khan , Hebburn ) and Christopher Dane ( Born Of Hope ).
It was shot in Lanzarote, the first time the Who crew have travelled there since 1984's "Planet Of Fire", and says Steven Moffat: "The Doctor is returning to the scene of an old adventure - but there have been sinister changes since his last visit."
And here's an amusing exchange on Peter Harness's Facebook page:
PH: Mine, I think, might make people go "WTF?"!!
Steven Moffat: "... great, ambitious, challenging script. Half Hinchcliffe, half - .... well, they can wait and see, can't they?"
Episode Eight "Mummy On The Orient Express"
Writer: Jamie Mathieson ( Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, Being Human )
Director: Paul Wilmshurst
Cast: Will feature comedian and Doctor Who fan Frank Skinner, it has been confirmed on Mathieson's blog and on the BBC's Who site . Also starring: Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Louisa Rose Allen, aka Foxes, David Bamber ( The King's Speech , The Bourne Identity , Blandings ), Christopher Villiers ( Emmerdale , Kidulthood , Doctor Who story "The King's Demons"), Janet Henfrey and Daisy Beaumont.
Episode Nine "Flatline"
The episode has been shooting in early June in Bristol, and Jenna Coleman has been seen waving a sonic screwdriver around!
Writer: Jamie Mathieson
Director: Douglas Mackinnon
Cast: Christopher Fairbank (Moxey in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet , and many, many other films and TV series, including Ashes To Ashes , The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit and The Fifth Element ) guest stars, alongside Jovian Wade ( Big School , Youngers ), James Quinn, Matt Bardock, John Cummins, Raj Bajaj and Jessica Hayes.
Episode Ten "In The Forest Of The Night"
Writer: Frank Cottrel Boyce ( 24 Hour Party People , A Cock And Bull Story , the opening of the London Olympics)
Director: Sheree Folkson ( Ugly Betty , Truckers , Casanova )
Steven Moffat has said of the episode: "Frank's script is pure magic - and everything I could have hoped for from the genius behind the Olympics opening ceremony! Doctor Who is born anew in the mind of a genius!"
Episode Eleven "Dark Water"
Episodes eleven and twelve, which comprise the season finale, have recently been shooting in Cardiff and feature the Cybermen.
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Rachel Talalay
Episode Twelve "Death In Heaven"
Actor and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar will appear in the series' final episode. Steven Moffat said: "I’m completely thrilled that Sanjeev Bhaskar is coming to the aid of the Doctor. The danger is never deadlier than in a finale episode, and the Time Lord is going to need all the help he can get!" Bhaskar, who has appeared in the likes of Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No 42 , said that he was "thrilled" to become part of the show: "Another dream box ticked!"
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Rachel Talalay
