The BBC have confirmed that the next series of Doctor Who will have its premiere in the United Kingdom during August 2014.


No day has been specified as yet, though previous series have been known to air from Bank Holiday weekends.

The BBC today announced that comedian Frank Skinner will be playing a role in the new series of Doctor Who. The Room 101 presenter, who previously cameoed in Peter Davison's 50th Anniversary's tribute The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, is to feature in the episode written by Jamie Mathieson, whose story is in the current filming block directed by Paul Wilmshurst.

Skinner, a long-term fan, said:
Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat commented:
Mathieson commented on the casting on his blog:

The episode will also feature the return of two more 'classic' series guest stars: Janet Henfrey appeared as Mrs Hardaker in the seventh Doctor adventure The Curse of Fenric in 1989; and Christopher Villiers hails back to the fifth Doctor era, appearing as Hugh in 1983's The King's Demons. Other guest stars announced include David Bamber (Rome, What Remains) and Daisy Beaumont (The Armstrong and Miller Show, A Touch of Cloth, You, Me, and Them).

The BBC today announced that Hermione Norris has been cast in the new series of Doctor Who. The actress will appear in the latest episode to be filmed, written by Peter Harness and directed by Paul Wilmshurst, which will also see filming undertaken at a location previously seen in the fifth Doctor adventure, Planet of Fire.

Lead writer/Executive Producer Steven Moffat said:
Norris said:

The actress has had a number of memorable roles on television, including Ros Myers in Spooks, Beatrice in Kingdom, and DCI Carol Jordan in Wire in the Blood; her sci-fi credentials include playing Stella Isen in Outcasts. She can currently be seen in the BBC drama The Crimson Field.

Also announced for this episode is Tony Osoba, joining the relatively small 'club' of actors to appear in both the 'classic' and new series of Doctor Who. This will be his third appearance (and Doctor!) in the series: the actor previously appeared as the Movellan Lan in fourth Doctor adventure Destiny of the Daleks and as Kracauer in seventh Doctor tale Dragonfire.

The BBC announced today that Ben Miller will be appearing in an episode of the currently filming eighth series of Doctor Who.

The actor said:
Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat observed:
The Armstrong and Miller and Death in Paradise actor is the latest guest star to have been recently announced, joining a line-up this year that includes Tony Way, Keeley Hawes, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, and Tom Riley.

The BBC have confirmed the actor Tom Riley is to appear in the third episode of the new series of Doctor Who.

The actor played Leonardo da Vinci in Da Vinci's Demons, the American historical fantasy drama series which presented a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life. Other roles include playing Romeo in St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold alongside David Tennant, Raymond Boynton in Agatha Christie's Poirot: Appointment with Death, Dave Beethoven in the BBC's Freezing and Dr Laurence Shepherd in Monroe the ITV British medical drama series.

The new edition of Doctor Who Magazine reveals that joining Riley in the episode will be actor Trevor Cooper, who last appeared in Doctor Who in 1985 when he played Takis in the Sixth Doctor story Revelation of the Daleks. Other guest stars include Ian Halland, who played director Richard Martin in last year's docu-drama An Adventure in Space and Time; David Benson, who played Noël Coward in the 1998 comedy Goodnight Sweetheart; Sabrina Bartlett, who plays Hannah in Channel 5's Suspects; and Roger Ashton-Griffiths, best known for numerous film roles, including Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm and Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York.

The episode will be written by Mark Gatiss, who recently confirmed he has been commissioned to write two new episodes. It will form part of the third production block of the series, directed by Paul Murphy, whose work includes Wizards vs Aliens, Trollied, Casualty, Waterloo Road and Grange Hill.

The second episode of the third production block is episode 6, which will be written by Gareth Roberts, whose previous stories include The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Planet of the Dead, The Lodger, and Closing Time as well as a number of episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Guest stars in episode 6 include Nigel Betts, who played Eddie Hope in Emmerdale, Edward Harrison, who has appeared in many stage roles as well as appearing in Doctors; Andy Gillies, who appeared in Love Soup, Ellis George and Jimmy Vee, a veteran of Doctor Who whose previous roles include the Graske, the Moxx of Balhoon and Bannakaffalatta in Voyage of the Damned.

The readthrough for the episodes took place on Thursday 20th March in Cardiff, with recording now taking place.

Actor and script writer Mark Gatiss has confirmed that he has been commissioned to write two new Doctor Who episodes, but has clarified that they will not necessarily both be in the upcoming series.

Gatiss has previously written six episodes for the series (The Unquiet Dead; The Idiot's Lantern; Victory of the Daleks; Night Terrors; The Crimson Horror; Cold War) as well as the acclaimed drama based on the origins of the series, An Adventure In Space And Time.

Gatiss confirmed the news on Twitter after telling reporters in Brazil that he would be writing two episodes for new Doctor Peter Capaldi.

He recently told Digital Spy that Capaldi would have an "exciting and disturbing" debut in the series.

The BBC have announced that actress Keeley Hawes is to join the cast of Doctor Who playing a villain.

Hawes will play Ms Delphox, a powerful out-of-this-world character with a dark secret. Travelling across space and time, the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and his companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), will come face to face with the mysterious Ms Delphox, when they arrive on a strange and puzzling planet.

The character will appear in the fifth episode of the series, written by Steve Thompson and directed by Douglas Mackinnon, which is currently being filmed in south Wales.

Hawes is best known for roles in The Last September, an adaptation of Elizabeth Bowen's 1929 novel, as well as playing Zoe Reynolds in Spooks, Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes and Lady Agnes in Upstairs, Downstairs. She is currently playing Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton on the second series of the BBC Two drama Line of Duty. She was the voice of Lara Croft in several Tomb Raider video games.

Commenting on her role, Hawes said: Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat added:

Production has now begun on Episode Five of Series 8, with two of the actors involved tweeting "We're on our way". The episode forms the second story to be filmed as part of Block 2, directed by Douglas Mackinnon, whose last story was the 2013 adventure Cold War.

It has been written by Steve Thompson, who returns to the series after writing two Eleventh Doctor stories: The Curse of the Black Spot and last year's Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. Filming has been taking place this week on locations around south Wales.

Writer Mark Gatiss has been talking about writing for the Twelfth Doctor, telling how Peter Capaldi has a very different energy to Matt Smith and David Tennant, and described his first episode as thrilling. He told Digital Spy: The series returns later this year.

Other Casting News:

More Season 8 casting news has also been announced, with Episode 4 co-starring Robert Goodman (Gangs of New York, Game of Thrones) and episode 5, co-starring Jonathan Bailey (Broadchurch, Groove High), and Pippa Bennett-Warner (The Smoke, Death in Paradise).

Production on the eighth series of Doctor Who in the 21st Century is now in full swing, with filming taking place in Cardiff at the Roath Lock studios and on location in Cardiff. The BBC have announced details of the first couple of episodes to be filmed, alongside the first official image of new Doctor Peter Capaldi alongside Jenna Coleman:


Arriving on set in Cardiff to begin filming, Peter Capaldi said:
Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, added:
Ben Stephenson, Controller of Drama Commissioning, said:
Charlotte Moore, Controller BBC One, commented:

Moffat has written the first episode of this series, which is directed by Ben Wheatley. Wheatley is a newcomer to Doctor Who, but his previous work includes The Wrong Door and Ideal. The director will also undertake the following episode, which has been written by Phil Ford, whose previous credits include The Waters of Mars for Doctor Who, as well as several episodes of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Other confirmed production crew include Brian Minchin (The Time of The Doctor) as executive producer alongside Moffat, and the return of producers Nikki Wilson (The Waters of Mars, The Sarah Jane Adventures) and Peter Bennett (several episodes from Series 5 and also Torchwood: Children of Earth).

Filming is expected to continue until August 2014.

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As reported above, filming has commenced on location in Cardiff, which revealed other characters involved with the opening episode.