Comic-Con 2015: Doctor Who Cast Tease Series 9 – Missy, Clara, and Vikings
By Barry Rice
The big Doctor Who panel at Comic-Con isn’t for a few more hours, but Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, and Michelle Gomez have been doing interviews all day with various outlets, and a few interesting tidbits regarding Series 9 have emerged.
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Digital Spy talked with the trio and got a little more information about the rumored “Viking” episode. Jenna Coleman started:
"“We do an episode with some Vikings. Yes. We like Vikings. Seeing Vikings on a spaceship is so incredibly Doctor-Who-ish.”"
Capaldi then chimed in:
"“Jenna started on that before I did. I walked in and saw you in a space suit on a spaceship with a pile of Vikings. And it just looked absolutely amazing”."
Look, I was excited just knowing there were going to be Vikings next season, but Vikings on a spaceship?! That’s either extremely cool or extremely crazy. Based on set photos, the Viking episodes are likely ‘The Girl Who Died’ and ‘The Woman Who Lived,’ both guest-starring Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams.
Coleman also spoke a little on the relationship between the Doctor and Clara:
"“I’d say it’s slightly less bumpy. I think they’ve reached a pleasant place of understanding. She is no longer split between home life and Doctor Who life, and she kind of throws herself into the TARDIS and her life with the Doctor, and she joins him in reckless abandon.”"
And Capaldi is still on a mission to bring back the original Mondasian Cybermen:
"“I’m not doing very well in my crusade, but then I may be surprised.”"
As silly as it may sound, that’s something I’d love to see. For more, here’s the full Digital Spy interview:
Speaking to Yahoo! UK, Coleman expounded a bit more on the Doctor/Clara relationship:
"“We have a lot of very fun adventures to look forward to. Clara and the Doctor are very much a team, very much together battling and facing the world, so all is gravy, for now.”"
Capaldi elaborated and heaped praise on his co-star:
"“We’ve worked out a lot of things. The great thing about the Clara and Doctor relationship is they know enough about each other to feel comfortable with each other, and are happy forging ahead together.“But the Doctor remains an alien, so there’s always a hidden aspect to him which you can never quite embrace, and sometimes that does appear.“But I think Clara is the best companion there’s ever been because she’s able to keep the Doctor in line, and she’s not frightened to give him a slap occasionally and tell him to grow up even though he’s two-and-a-half thousand years old.”"
I don’t think Clara’s the best companion ever, but I take your point, Peter. Michelle Gomez dropped some interesting hints regarding the evolution of Missy:
"“We’ve managed to make Missy quite well-rounded and maybe even more human than the Doctor, and that was my challenge. I didn’t want her just to be the pantomime villain. There is a little dance that they are doing there which is quite subtle and their relationship is more human than has gone before with the Master and the Doctor. It’s almost domestic.”"
In this exclusive first-look photo from the Doctor Who Series 9 premiere, star Peter Capaldi says “the Doctor about to make a mistake that has cataclysmic repercussions.”
(Credit: Entertainment Weekly)
Possibly the most intriguing tidbit was this quote from Capaldi, further elaborating on the Series 9 teaser image released last week, featuring a seemingly befuddled Doctor emerging from the TARDIS onto a desolate landscape:
"“The picture hints at a battle, it hints at the Doctor being in a very traditional battlefield, in which he tries to help a victim of war… but it backfires.”"
Hmm…honestly, that could mean almost anything. But it’s definitely interesting.
IGN talked to Capaldi at last night’s LEGO Dimensions event and got some curious information regarding the relationship between the Doctor and Missy:
"“The thing is with the whole Missy arc is there are mysteries there yet to be told. There are mysteries about how the Doctor and Missy know each other and what their relationship really is, and what they have been through together to get the to this place.It’s a very complex relationship, they are like mirror images of each other. But they’re probably closer to each other than the are distant. They are more like each other than unlike each other.”"
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When the IGN team asked Capaldi if the Doctor “loved” Missy, he responded, “I think so, probably.” Okay, now that’s really interesting.
Lastly, in a Press Association interview, the cast talked about having Maisie Williams guest-star in the aforementioned Series 9 two-parter. Capaldi was adamant that Williams not drop any spoilers while on-set:
"“We had to make sure she didn’t give us any Game of Thrones spoilers, we didn’t want to know anything at all.”"
Can’t blame you there. He went on praise the young actress, saying she gave a “cosmic” performance:
"“I love cosmic, it’s such a great word, it covers so many bases.“She’s wonderful in it, and also, what’s great about Maisie, she changes, she metamorphosises. She’s metamorphic.”“She’s so different, without giving anything away, the way she acts, the different aspects of her character, is very exciting and compelling and very impressive for someone who is so young.”"
Coleman agreed, and teased Williams’ role on the show:
"“I don’t think we’re allowed to give anything away, other than to say she is utterly brilliant as you would expect, and it’s a very surprising and intriguing storyline with her connection to us and her connection to the Doctor.”"
For more, here’s the full Press Association interview:
Stay tuned — the Official BBC America Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic-Con begins at 2:15 PM local time, so there’ll be much more news in the coming hours. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest!
What do you think about the latest comments from the cast? Have any theories about Series 9? Sound off in the comments below!
Next: Comic-Con 2015: Top 5 Doctor Who Comic-Con Exclusive Collectibles