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 9: ‘Sleep No More’
Written by Mark Gatiss.
Directed by Justin Molotnikov (Filming block 7).
Guest cast: Reece Shearsmith, Bethany Black as 474, Elaine Tan as Nagata, Neet Mohan, Paul Courtenay Hyu as Deep-Ando.
Official synopsis: “This terrifying story is assembled from footage discovered in the wreckage of Le Verrier Space Station.”
Mark Gatiss: “I think the brilliant and never quite recognised thing about Doctor Who is that nothing does so many different things absolutely every week. Even with a two-parter, usually the second part is kind of different. I think that’s really worth celebrating, and it’s kind of thrilling. But as I say, it’s great to think you can keep pushing it after all these years.”
Brian Minchin: “This episode is assembled from footage found in the wreckage of a crashed space station. We’re just putting it out as it was discovered.”
Steven Moffat: “This is footage collected from a space rescue mission. If you value your life, your sanity, and the future of your species, DO NOT WATCH IT.”
Mark Gatiss: “It’s set in the future. It’s all from different points of view, which has not been done before on Doctor Who. It’s been quite a challenge to make because you have to break a lot of the usual rules in terms of what you can actually show. Anything you can do to shake the format up is very exciting and that’s what we’ve done.”
Steven Moffat: “It wasn’t possible to do such an episode ten years ago, when the show came back and Mark [Gatiss] has been rewriting it over and over again to make it perfect.”
Daily Star: The episode is filmed in found-footage style, featuring “old phone and camcorder footage” and “the Time Lord’s followers filming their attempts to fight a monster”.
Brian Minchin: “We’re considering not even having opening titles and just running the footage.”
Jenna Coleman: “Today I shall mostly be working in a fridge.”
Mark Gatiss: “I’m … very excited about this particular story. It’s been brewing in the dark recesses of my mind for a while now!”
Bethany Black: “Now to sit back and wait until The Mail realises the BBC have cast an open trans lesbian in a family show.”
Reece Shearsmith: “Mark Gatiss has written a fantastic role for me in a very scary episode. It has been so exciting to be part of a very singular episode – which, I can say with authority will be unlike any previous episode of Doctor Who.”
Mark Gatiss: “[My new story] has been a tough nut to crack, but I’m delighted with how scary it is.”
Mark Gatiss: “…I do have a preference for historical stories. But I would love to do one set in the future.”
Continued on the next page…