With Series 8 filming reaching it’s latter stages and the series itself now only three months away, here’s some of the latest gossip, rumours and speculation doing the rounds. As ever, all rumours are to be taken as what they are - rumours. Many will contradict themselves and many will turn out to be utter nonsense.
We’ve blindly ignored anything suggesting a return of the Rani or Valeyard!
Danny Pink is the Master in Disguise.
Unlikely. Set photos have shown an aged Danny Pink, the Doctor would be able to spot the unusual ageing a mile off, not to mention the Time Lord ability to spot another Time Lord and the TARDIS’ built in body scanner that registered Amy’s pregnancy. Danny also has a sister that features in the series (here come the Rani cries!).
Charles Dance Has Been Cast as The Master
John Simm Will Return as The Master
Ever since Sylvester McCoy reportedly stated that he knew the identity of the next Master, the Doctors greatest foe (yes, really!) has been an almost lock in fans eyes as the next big bad with Charles Dance being the prefered name passed around. There’s been little advancement since then but rumours reaching our ears of late suggest John Simm has agreed to return to the role.
While it would provide continuity and Simm has suggested he’d like to put a different spin on the character, we can only see Steven Moffat wanting to recast the role to leave his own mark.
Daleks Have Been Spotted On-Set in a Cardiff Warehouse/Parking Lot
Each Doctor since Christopher Eccleston has faced the Daleks in their first season, so their return during Series 8 is likely, particularly if a hunt for Gallifrey is indeed on the cards. Rumours till now have suggested they will return as early as Episode 2 by Phil Ford which may or may not be partially set on Skaro. The second adventure set on Skaro? who’da thunk it!
Yet this rumour suggests they may appear in Episode 7 (Kill the Moon), equally it may have been reshoots from Episode Two. It may play into…
Lanzarote Will Double For Mars/Skaro/Vulcan/Sarn/The Moon/Pompeii
The rumoured title of “Kill the Moon” would seem to give this one away and Hermoine Norris’ NASA style badge on her spacesuit may suggest the episode is set in the near future in our own Galaxy (ruling out Pompeii), Lanzarote’s landscape sufficiently Moon or Mars like. However, sepearate filming shows the cast with their helmets off, something not possible on our Moon or Mars, the terrain also being a decidedly un-Moonish colour and with vegetation. The shovel suggests the Doctor is looking for something. The photos seen widely online were filmed however at Aberavon Beach in Wales and may be a completely different setting to whatever planet Lanzarote is doubling as if time or space travel is involved, indicating maybe that the story shifts at some stage from The Moon/Mars/elsewhere to a beach on Earth, the cast retaining the suits that had been used in a no-atmosphere setting.
It’s unlikely Steven Moffat would sanction a sequel to Planet of Fire, it not being particularly remembered amongst the general viewing audience… yet Russell T. Davies brought back the Macra! (there’s no such thing) and Moffat himself brought back The Sisterhood of Karn, plus there’s the “I’m not off the Sarn” Tweet from Edward Russell.
There really is no reliable information on where Lanzarote will double for at this stage, yet if the stories of Daleks being filmed during this block are true, it could indicate Vulcan.
The Orient Express.. in Space!
The Orient Express featured in Episode 8 will not be the original, rather will be in space in the vain of the Titanic, a mummy will be on the lose, hence the title Mummy on the Orient Express, obviously.
The 2D Invasion
Episode 9 (rumoured to be called Flatline) is written by Neil Cross and will be the season’s Doctor-lite episode and will feature a 2D invasion by aliens that turn humans into graffiti. A team of cleaners cleaning them away erases the victims forever!
The TARDIS will be filled with clutter
The interior of the TARDIS will remain the same but will feature a blackboard and other clutter, possibly as a way of the Doctor working out how to control her. Entirely possible and a return to the “mad scientist” character would be welcome, we can just see them full of insane calculations now!
Jack Lothian Out
Jack Lothian will no longer be writing for the series and Episode Ten will be either by Frank Coterill-Boyce or Mark Gatiss.
Gallifrey in his Head
When the Time Lords gifted the Doctor his new regenerations they also planted something in his head, possibly akin to The Matrix. The idea has been used before in The Gallifrey Chronicles by Lance Parkin.
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