SPOILER ALERT: Obviously, this is a primer for the upcoming 10th season of ‘Doctor Who’. There won’t be any MAJOR SPOILERS, but if you want to go in cold, avoid this.
We’re just days away from the premiere of ‘Doctor Who’ Season 10, the first new episode in a year, not counting this past Christmas Special. The show is a fresh start in some ways, introducing Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, the Doctor’s newest companion and featuring the return of Nardole, played by Matt Lucas. But it’s also an ending of sorts, as this is the final season for current Doctor, Peter Capaldi and showrunner Steven Moffat. We’ll also get a little old and new as previous Master, John Simm, teams up with current Missy, Michelle Gomez.
So what should we expect? Well, we have all the info you need and don’t worry, NO MAJOR SPOILERS! Straight from Steven Moffat. (NOTE: Most of these are abridged. To read the entire synopses, go to Radio Times.)
Episode 1: ‘The Pilot’ was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Lawrence Gough, and largely focuses on establishing Bill, who serves food at her fictional college St. Luke’s University, located near Bristol. She also lives with her foster mother and finds her life dull… until she meets The Doctor who is masquerading as a lecturer as part of a mission.
The Steven Moffat synopsis reads:
Meet Bill Potts. She works at St Luke’s University, serving chips to students, and nothing ever, ever happens. Then, one day, she finds there’s another world beneath the one she knows. A familiar face in a pool of water, and a love that is over before it can begin, will change her life for ever – because this is the day Bill meets the Doctor.
“Two worlds collide when the Doctor meets Bill, and a chance encounter with a girl with a star in her eye leads to a terrifying chase across time and space.
“Bill’s mind is opened to a universe that is bigger and more exciting than she could possibly have imagined. But who is the Doctor, and what is his secret mission on Earth?”
Episode 2: ‘Smile’, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, directed by Lawrence Gough introduces the Emojibots, shown in the S10 trailer.
Here is that synopsis:
In the far future, at the edge of the galaxy, there is a gleaming, perfect city. This brand-new human settlement is said to hold the secret of human happiness – but the only smiles the Doctor and Bill can find are on a pile of grinning skulls. Something is alive in the walls, and the Emojibots are watching from the shadows, as the Doctor and Bill try to unravel a terrifying mystery…
Sounds great right? Of course, we know terror awaits.
Episode 3: ‘Thin Ice’, written by Sarah Dollard, directed by Bill Anderson:
In Regency England, beneath the frozen Thames, something is stirring. The Doctor and Bill arrive at the last of the great frost fairs and find themselves investigating a string of impossible disappearances – people have been vanishing on the ice! Bill is about to discover that the past is more like her world than she expected, and that not all monsters come from outer space.
Episode 4: ‘Knock Knock’, written by Mike Bartlett, directed by Bill Anderson:
Bill is moving in with some friends and they’ve found the perfect house! So what if it’s strangely cheap to rent, and the landlord is a little creepy?
Episode 5: ‘Oxygen’, written by Jamie Mathieson, directed by Charles Palmer:
The Doctor, Bill and Nardole answer a distress call in deep space, and find themselves trapped on board space station Chasm Forge. All but four of the crew have been murdered – and the dead are still walking! In a future where oxygen is sold by the breath, and space suits are valued more highly than their occupants, the Tardis crew battle for survival against the darkest evil of all.
Episodes 6, 7 and 8 make up the anticipated three-part episode that focuses on an evil monk, but it also features the return of Michelle Gomez as Missy..
Episode 6: ‘Extremis’ is written by Steven Moffat and directed by Daniel Nettheim:
In the Haereticum (the Vatican’s secret library of blasphemy) there is an ancient book known only as The Veritas. Throughout history, anyone who has ever read it has immediately taken their own life. Now a new translation is online, and the danger is spreading.
Episode 7: ‘The Pyramid at the End of the World’, Written by Peter Harness & Steven Moffat, Directed by Daniel Nettheim:
A 5,000-year-old pyramid stands at the centre of a war zone, where the Chinese, Russian and American armies are about to clash. There are many problems with that, but the one that intrigues the Doctor is this: there wasn’t a pyramid there yesterday. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole face an alien invasion unlike any other – before conquest can begin, these aliens need the consent of the human race.
Episode 8: ‘The Lie of the Land’, Written by Toby Whithouse, Directed by Wayne Yip:
The world is gripped by a mass delusion and only Bill Potts can see the truth. When even the Doctor is fighting on the wrong side, it’s up to Bill to convince the Time Lord that humanity is in deadly danger. And if she can’t do that, she may just have to kill her best friend.
Episode 9: ‘The Empress of Mars’, Written by Mark Gatiss, Directed by Wayne Yip:
The Doctor, Bill and Nardole arrive on Mars and find themselves in an impossible conflict between Ice Warriors… and Victorian soldiers… When Earth is invading Mars, whose side is he on?
Episode 10: ‘The Eaters of Light’, Written by Rona Munro, Directed by Charles Palmer:
A long time ago, the Roman legion of the ninth vanished into the mists of Scotland. Bill has a theory about what happened, and the Doctor has a time machine. But when they arrive in ancient Aberdeenshire, what they find is a far greater threat than any army. In a cairn, on a hillside, is a doorway leading to the end of the world.
Episode 11– the next-to-last– may be the most controversial of the season. It also features another Missy appearance and a line that will ruffle some feathers.
Episode 11: ‘World Enough and Time’, Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Rachel Talalay:
Friendship drives the Doctor into the rashest decision of his life. Trapped on a giant spaceship, caught in the event horizon of a black hole, he witnesses the death of someone he is pledged to protect. Is there any way he can redeem his mistake? For once, time is the Time Lord’s enemy…
At some point, it appears that The Doctor will actually state “I’m Doctor Who.”
And finally, we have the final episode… and by that I mean the final episode of the Capaldi/Moffat era. And it appears fairly ominous. (It also features Missy.)
Episode 12: ‘The Doctor Falls’, Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Rachel Talalay:
The Mondasian Cybermen are on the rise. It’s time for the Doctor’s final battle…
I mean… that’s not a surprise, of course. It’s time for a regeneration!
Gomez makes a few appearances, but it’s unclear in which she encounters John Simm’s Master. (I would guess the three-parter, but that’s just a guess.)
What do you think? How does this season sound?
Source: Radio Times
