Doctor Who producer talks series nine - "bigger adventures" promised

Doctor Who producer Brian Minchin has spoken exclusively to SFX about what's in store for the Doctor and Clara in the new series.

"This series we’re telling the next stage of the adventure," he tells us in SFX 261, on sale now. "It’s the glory years of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and Clara. As you saw in the finale and the Christmas episode he’s kind of answered his question of 'Am I a good man?' and this year he’s having the time of his life, having dangerous and exciting adventures in time and space. These are the glory days of the Doctor and Clara. They’re having the biggest, most dangerous adventures they’ve ever had and they’re having great fun doing it."

"The mission statement we had was bigger adventures, and to go further in space and time. We’ve got a very confident Doctor, we’ve got a very confident companion and they’re both experts at doing this now so we can tell slightly bigger stories. We’re doing more two-parters – and not just conventional two parters. We’re doing linked stories where you might not be sure how they’re going to be connected until you see them. We’re pushing the storytelling that way, to give us more scale of adventure."

"Missy is brilliant, and having seen her in the finale we just couldn’t wait to work with Michelle again. Steven had the perfect story. It’s not going to be Missy as you expect her to be. Steven likes to surprise everyone and he’s going to do that with this opening. Missy has an awful lot of sides to her and we’re going to see some new ones in this series. We also learn a bit more about her relationship with the Doctor…"

You can read more on the new series of Doctor Who in SFX issue 261. This spectacular 20th anniversary issue of SFX also includes your chance to win a full-size replica Dalek worth £3500!

Nick Setchfield is the Editor-at-Large for SFX Magazine, writing features, reviews, interviews, and more for the monthly issues. However, he is also a freelance journalist and author with Titan Books. His original novels are called The War in the Dark, and The Spider Dance. He's also written a book on James Bond called Mission Statements.