Doctor Who Series 9 Premiere ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’ Debuts at TV Festival

Today at The Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival in Scotland, attendees were treated to the worldwide debut of Doctor Who‘s Series 9 premiere, ‘The Magician’s Apprentice,’ followed by a Q&A with executive producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin.

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Fortunately for the rest of us, a few plot details and spoilers have been leaked by those lucky fans in attendance. If you want to stay spoiler-free but would still like some general information, I can tell you I haven’t seen a single negative review. Most agree that it was an epic, blockbuster episode — very different from Series 8, with a feel that is more reminiscent of a finale, not a premiere.

All right, now for the good stuff — beware, there are obviously going to be several SPOILERS below — if you prefer not to be spoiled, turn back now!

First, I will say that the attendees were obviously asked not to spoil the episode and so far they’ve been very good at following these instructions. There are some very specific spoilers floating around Reddit, 4chan, and Tumblr that have been debunked by people who were actually there as false. So if you read something that seems too specific, it’s probably not true.

According to a few people on the Gallifrey Base forum who were in attendance, these are the few details I was able to glean:

The title sequence is unchanged, except that the music is now better “synced” to the visuals
The episode opens with a wild montage of various locations all across the galaxy
Locations seen include Dorian’s bar, Karn, and the Shadow Proclamation
The major details of the plot are laid out in the first 15 minutes
Both the “slashed-face man” and the “eyeball hands” from the trailers are in the episode
The “slashed-face man” is NOT the Master (many had surmised he could be a pre-Missy Master on Karn)
The “snake made out of other snakes” mentioned in interviews shows up at around the halfway mark
No one will confirm nor deny whether Davros is actually in the episode or not, but the silence alone speaks volumes
The episode ends on a massive cliffhanger (duh)

If you’re not content to wait for the conclusion, you’re in luck; both ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’ AND ‘The Witch’s Familiar’ will be shown at a special screening September 10 in Cardiff. The special event is presented by BAFTA Cymru and will feature a Q&A with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat, and Brian Minchin. We’ll definitely have a full report soon thereafter, so stay tuned!

Doctor Who Series 9 premieres September 19. For more information, check out our full episode guide, Doctor Who Series 9: Everything There is to Know so Far.

What do you think? Are you excited by these new details? Any guesses on what this new info could mean? Sound off in the comments below!

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Doctor Who Series 9 Premiere ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’ Debuts at TV Festival – Minor Spoilers!

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