Doctor Who Series 9: Steven Moffat Previews All 12 Episodes!

This month’s issue of SFX magazine (dubbed “The Regeneration Issue”) reveals a redesigned look and a Doctor Who cover story, including interviews with showrunner Steven Moffat and stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman.

It’s Moffat who has the most interesting bits though, as he reveals new spoiler-free details on all 12 upcoming Series 9 episodes.

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First up is the two-part series premiere, ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/’The Witch’s Familiar,’ which Moffat potentially oversells as “Star Wars-y”:

"“This is the opening two-parter. It features lots of Daleks and this time we mean it! Clara receives a mysterious summons and has to team up with Missy to search for the Doctor in a very, very old place.”"

Then there’s episodes 3 & 4, a “spooky” story in which Moffat infers that time travel just might allow someone to meet their own ghost:

"“This two-parter is written by Toby Whithouse and features an underwater base plagued by creeping ghosts and an island that is about to be submerged in water. But who or what is doing this and how can the Doctor stop it? It’s very scary, atmospheric and claustrophobic, much like some classic episodes.”"

Up next is ‘The Girl Who Died’/’The Girl Who Waited,’ which Moffat says is “a really good Doctor-Clara one”:

"“[These] two are exceptional! Doctor Who meets Game of Thrones! Well, only because Maisie Williams is in them. The first part features Vikings fighting mercenary robots (and a dragon!) and the second one sees a group of Highwaymen dealing with a Norse god.”"

Episodes 7 & 8 see the return of the both the Zygons and fan favorite Osgood; Moffat describes the story as “a sort of global urban thriller”:

"“This one is written by Peter Harness and ‘Day of the Doctor’ acted as a prologue to it. In it, the Zygons made peace with the Humans, but not every Zygon decided it was okay so they’ve been raising an army, silently and now they’re rising against UNIT! We’ve been planning this forever and Osgood is in it! But how is that possible you’d ask? Missy killed her! Who knows? Well, we know.”"

Then there’s this year’s sole Mark Gatiss-scripted story, which Moffat says is “unusual”:

"“This is a very unique Doctor Who story from Mark Gatiss. It wasn’t possible to do such an episode ten years ago, when the show came back and Mark has been rewriting it over and over again to make it perfect. It’s a beautiful story, very eerie and special, I think it’s going to be an instant classic.”"

Followed by another standalone episode, based on what Moffat says is “a terrific idea”:

"“An episode which leapt out as ‘why haven’t we done this already? This is so Doctor Who we should be doing this immediately.’ And when Sarah Dollard walked in with the finalised script, it was even better! Really, this is going to be a fan-favorite, everyone will want to rewatch it.”"

Last, but not least, is the two-part finale, about which — not surprisingly — Moffat has very little to say:

"“A challenge. I won’t say anything else because it would be too spoilery, but when you’ll watch it, you’re going to ask how exactly the Doctor and Clara are going to pull it off.”"

(Credit: SFX Magazine)

Very interesting stuff. A lot of this gibes very well with the rumors and other speculation floating around (specifically the Maisie Williams bits), while others are eye-opening in other ways.

For more, check out the new issue of SFX magazine, on bookstore shelves this week.

Doctor Who Series 9 will premiere on September 19; for full episode information, check out our guide: Doctor Who Series 9: Everything There is to Know So Far.

What do you think? Do Steven Moffat’s descriptions make you even more excited for Series 9? Sound off in the comments below!

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