More Doctor Who Season Eight Antagonists & New Guest Star Announced

Source: Wales Online

Michelle Gomez and the Cybermen battle the Doctor this Autumn...
The BBC have today announced several antagonists set to feature in the new series of their science-fiction drama Doctor Who. Starring Peter Capaldi as the titular eternal Time Lord, the run will mark the show's eighth full season since its revival by Russell T Davies in 2005 and will also see the return of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald and the introduction of Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink, a new member of the TARDIS crew.

More excitingly still, Michelle Gomez (pictured above with Capaldi) has just been confirmed to star in the two-part finale of Season Eight (comprising Episodes 11 and 12 - there's no Episode 13 as a) the 50th needed a sizeable budget increase and b) Episode 1 is a feature-length instalment) as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere. Searching the term 'Nethersphere' on Doctor Who wikis yields no immediate results, so it seems as if Steven Moffat (the writer of the story) has created an original character and realm for Gomez (who has previously starred in shows such as Bad Education and plays such as The Merchant of Venice) to inhabit in this instance.

Keen-eyed readers will no doubt have spotted that Capaldi and Gomez are by no means the only victims of Wales Online's camera-work above: the Cybermen have additionally been officially confirmed to return in the upcoming (still to-be-titled) serial. First conceived in the 2013 story "Nightmare in Silver", the latest incarnation of these robotic warriors derives from our universe rather than the parallel universe versions introduced in 2006's "Rise of the Cybermen", but it remains to be seen whether they'll have a starring role as they did in the aforementioned serials or they'll merely cameo as they did in 2010's "The Pandorica Opens", 2011's "A Good Man Goes To War" and 2013's "The Day of the Doctor" and "The Time of the Doctor".

As if all of those news updates weren't enough, photos taken on set by Wales Online today have even revealed that both Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver will return in (at least) Episode 12 to reprise their roles as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and her trusted assistant Osgood along with a substantial number of UNIT troops who today took arms against the invading Cyber forces. At this rate, the next two months won't possibly be able to pass quick enough for the vast majority of fans. Keep it On-Screen for more details on Doctor Who Season Eight and the show's future in the days ahead...

Doctor Who returns for a new series of time-travelling adventures, beginning with a feature-length instalment titled "Deep Breath", on BBC One this August 23rd.

(P.S. Below is the brilliantly designed cover image for this year's mandatory official Doctor Who annual, The Official Doctor Who Annual 2015, this time front-headed by none other than Peter Capaldi's stern-looking Twelfth Doctor.)