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 4: ‘Before the Flood’
Written by Toby Whithouse.
Directed by Daniel O’Hara (Filming block 1).
Guest cast: Paul Kaye as Prentis, Arsher Ali as Mason Bennett, Colin McFarlane as Moran, Morven Christie as O’Donnell, Zaqi Ismail as Lunn, Steven Robertson as Pritchard, Sophie Stone as Cass, Neil Fingleton as the Fisher King.
Official synopsis: “On a remote Army outpost, a fearsome alien warlord – the Fisher King – sets in motion a twisted plan to ensure his own survival. The ripples will be felt around the universe. Is this chain of events inevitable? And can the Doctor do the unthinkable?”
Brian Minchin: “Set a few hundred years before episode three… The Doctor needs to unpick the past to solve the future.”
Steven Moffat: “In the eerie remains of a town that never was, something is stalking the Doctor and his friends. A desperate battle for survival is underway, but this time our heroes already know which of them is going to lose. With the past and the future hanging in the balance, the Doctor is breaking the rules to win the day. Can anything stop the Fisher King? And more importantly, who composed Beethoven’s 5th?”
Steven Moffat: “You know, if you allow both time travel and ghosts in the same universe, you can meet your own ghost. [Toby Whithouse] also wanted an underwater base, and it looks amazing. It’s an amazing set. It looks fantastic.”
The Mirror: “British former basketball ace Neil Fingleton, who is 7ft 7in, will play underwater creature the Fisher King, a crashed alien that makes its home in Loch Ness.”
Brian Minchin: “The mission statement we had was bigger adventures, and to go further in space and time. We’ve got a very confident Doctor, we’ve got a very confident companion and they’re both experts at doing this now so we can tell slightly bigger stories.”
Paul Kaye: “Peter [Capaldi] is a perfect Doctor and I’m loving every minute of the experience, even the five hours in make-up.”
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