Doctor Who (series 9)

Episodes

The series contains more than one two-episode story for the first time since the sixth series in 2011.

Prequels

The following were both prequels to "The Magician's Apprentice".

Casting

The ninth series is the second starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, and the third and final starring Jenna Coleman as the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald.

In Doctor Who Magazine, Michelle Gomez confirmed that she would return as Missy, the latest incarnation of the Master, who served as the main villain in series 8. In February 2015, it was confirmed that Missy would return in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar", the opening episodes of the series.

In January 2015, it was announced that actor Paul Kaye had a guest role in the first production block. It was later announced that other guest actors featuring in the first block include Arsher Ali, Morven Christie, Neil Fingleton, Colin McFarlane, and Steven Robertson.

Jemma Redgrave returned in the recurring role of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. Kelly Hunter was also confirmed to be appearing in the opening story, alongside Jaye Griffiths and Clare Higgins. Hunter previously appeared as the Shadow Architect for the Shadow Proclamation in "The Stolen Earth", while Higgins appeared in "The Night of the Doctor" as Ohila, High Priestess of the Sisterhood of Karn. It was announced on 8 May 2015 that Ingrid Oliver would return as Osgood alongside Redgrave for "The Zygon Invasion" / "The Zygon Inversion", a story involving the Zygons, despite her apparent death in the previous series.

On 5 August 2015, it was announced that Reece Shearsmith, Elaine Tan, Neet Mohan, Bethany Black and Paul Courtenay Hyu would have a role in "Sleep No More".

Other guests included India Ria Amarteifio, Dasharn Anderson, Harki Bhambra, Daniel Hoffmann-Gill, Aaron Neil, Demi Papaminas, Joey Price and Jami Reid-Quarrell. On 30 March 2015, Maisie Williams, Rufus Hound, Tom Stourton, Ariyon Bakare, Simon Lipkin, Ian Conningham, Murray McArthur, Barnaby Kay, John Voce, and Struan Rodger were announced to be appearing. On 19 April 2015, David Schofield was announced to be playing Viking god Odin. On 4 June 2015, it was announced that Rebecca Front, who starred alongside Capaldi in The Thick of It, would appear in "The Zygon Invasion". On 10 June 2015, it was announced that Joivan Wade would return as Rigsy, who previously appeared in "Flatline". Robin Soans played Chronolock Guy in "Face the Raven"; Soans previously appeared in Doctor Who as Luvic in The Keeper of Traken.

Julian Bleach reprised his role as Davros, having last appeared in the role in 2008's "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End", while Joey Price debuted as a younger version of the character. On September 28, 2015 it was announced that Corey Taylor, frontman for the heavy metal band Slipknot, would feature in the fourth episode "Before the Flood", as the scream of the alien warlord Fisher King.

Writing and development

Steven Moffat wrote the opening two-parter story, and Catherine Tregenna wrote an episode for the series. Tregenna is known for her earlier involvement in Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood.

Before series 8 began, Moffat promised a cliffhanger for series 9, and teased in Doctor Who Magazine Issue 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!"

As the series coincides with the 10th anniversary of the show's revival, the BBC asked former showrunner and head writer, Russell T. Davies to return, along with Steven Moffat who asks Davies every year. He replied with a polite "thanks but no thanks". A BBC source says that plans for the revival anniversary were still to be decided, despite Davies' reluctance to return. He also believed that the success of the revived show meant that "It’s now impossible for it to ever be axed." However, despite the comments made to Radio Times, in an interview with BBC Radio 2 a week later, Davies said he would love to write more Doctor Who, specifically a movie.

In January 2015, the Doctor Who Twitter page reported that filming had begun on episodes written by Toby Whithouse, who has previously contributed episodes "School Reunion", "The Vampires of Venice", "The God Complex" and "A Town Called Mercy". On 16 March 2015, Mark Gatiss confirmed he would be writing an episode for the series. On 30 March 2015, it was confirmed Jamie Mathieson, who previously wrote "Mummy on the Orient Express" and "Flatline" for series 8, would write a new episode called "The Girl Who Died" with Moffat. On 8 May 2015 it was announced that Peter Harness, who wrote series 8's "Kill the Moon", would write a two-part story. Justin Molotnikov was to direct two 60 minute episodes for Doctor Who, according to his CV, though this was removed at a later date. However, he directed the ninth and tenth episodes of the series.

The series saw the return of the cliffhanger, with six of the twelve episodes divided into two-parters. Moffat has stated that the two-part stories aren't as connected as similar stories in previous series, but instead are quite different and only vaguely related.

In April 2015, Steven Moffat confirmed that Doctor Who would run for at least another five years, extending the show until at least 2020.

Filming

Filming and principal photography for the ninth series began on 5 January 2015 in Cardiff, with "Under the Lake" and "Before the Flood" making up the first production block. The read-through for the first block took place on 18 December 2014.

According to his online C.V., Being Human director Daniel O'Hara will direct two fifty-minute-long episodes for the series. This was confirmed by the BBC on 14 January 2015.

The second production block consist of two of Steven Moffat's episodes, the opening two-parter. Filming for the story took place in Tenerife, Spain in February 2015, directed by Hettie MacDonald, who directed the 2007 episode "Blink".

On 30 March 2015, it was revealed Ed Bazalgette would direct two episodes, one written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat and the other by Catherine Tregenna. On 8 May 2015, the BBC announced that filming had started on a two-part episode written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim. On 10 June 2015, it was revealed by the BBC that filming for Block 5 had begun with Justin Molotnikov directing "Face the Raven", written by Sarah Dollard. On 1 July 2015, the BBC confirmed that Rachel Talalay would return to direct the final two episodes of the series, both written by Steven Moffat.

Promotion

On 9 July 2015, the first trailer for the series was released, alongside the confirmation of the airdate of "The Magician's Apprentice". The same day, Capaldi, Coleman, Gomez and Moffat promoted the series at San Diego Comic-Con International. On 12 August 2015, the second trailer for the series was released. A prologue to the series was released online on 11 September 2015. A prequel to the series, entitled "The Doctor's Meditation", was released on 15 September 2015 exclusively shown as part of a 3D cinematic release of the previous series' finale.

Critical reception

Doctor Who's ninth series received critical acclaim, and was hailed by many critics as the show's best season to date. Series 9 holds a 93% score on online review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 7.9. It has also won the Rotten Tomatoes' Golden Tomato Award for best-reviewed TV sci-fi/fantasy/horror show of 2015. The site's consensus reads "Peter Capaldi and the writers have settled into an emotionally engaging tone, allowing the show to raise the stakes for the Twelfth Doctor". Reaction to individual episodes has also been highly positive, with scores on the site ranging from 67% to 95%, all certified fresh by the site. Specifically, episodes such as "The Woman Who Lived" and "Heaven Sent" received particular acclaim, with critics saying that the former "should be an episode that goes down in Doctor Who history" and "stands as perhaps the strongest entry of Season Thirty-Five thus far", whilst the latter was labelled "a masterpiece of the highest order" and "an instant classic". The lowest-scored episode for the season was the episode written by Mark Gatiss, "Sleep No More", which gained a 67% rating though was still considered "fresh".

In reviews for various episodes across the series, many critics highlighted series 9 as the show's greatest yet. In their review for "Hell Bent", IGN called series 9 "a very strong season of Doctor Who – possibly the best season of the modern run of the show", while New York Magazine stated "It’s been a largely brilliant season... possibly even the best since the new series began" in their review for the same episode. Discussing the series as a whole, The A.V. Club stated "Doctor Who is great again, and this season represents maybe the best mixture yet of the show’s head and its heart". Of the twelve episodes in the season, they awarded five a perfect 'A' grade (the most for any season of the show), while awarding a further five episodes either an A- or a B+. Furthermore, TVEquals.com called series 9 "one of the strongest seasons of the show in years".

DVD and Blu-ray releases

"Last Christmas" was released as a standalone DVD and Blu-ray on 26 January 2015 in Region 2. The first six episodes of the series were released in Region 2 on DVD and Blu-ray on 2 November 2015, and on 3 November 2015 in Region 1. It contains the first six episodes and three Doctor Who Extra documentaries, with the second half being released on 4 January 2016 in Region 2.

A complete box set for the ninth series was released on 7 March 2016 in Region 2, 9 March 2016 in Region 4, and 5 April 2016 in Region 1.