Doctor Who Comic-Con Recap

Find out what was revealed in Hall H with our Doctor Who Comic-Con Recap!

Fans haven’t had a new episode of Doctor Who since the appropriately-titled “Last Christmas,” so those attending Comic-Con International in San Diego today were understandably delighted with the new footage from the ninth modern series of the hit show. If you haven’t checked out the trailer yet, watch it right here. If you’ve already seen it and are asking, “Who is Maisie Williams playing?” keep reading for what might be some major hints about what we’ll see when “Doctor Who” returns September 19.

Joining showrunner Steven Moffat on the Hall H stage was the Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi (in his first-ever Comic-Con appearance), alongside costars Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) and Michelle Gomez (Missy).

“It’s cosmic,” Capaldi said as he surveyed the packed house. “I’ve never been in front of 7,000 people in my life.”

Capaldi, a dedicated “Doctor Who” from age six, recalled getting “quite teary” when he first laid eyes on the TARDIS on set way back in 2008. Of course, the Doctor then was David Tennant. Capaldi played a guest-starring role in series four’s “The Fires of Pompeii.” After a single season in the lead role, however, it’s almost hard to imagine that Capaldi ever wasn’t the Doctor.

“He’s Scottish, which is just automatically better,” Moffat laughed with his own brogue before admitting, “…[But the] difference in how you write the Doctor isn’t that great. It’s about what the actor brings to it… On paper, the Doctors are surprisingly similar.”

Still, having Capaldi’s Doctor’s relationship with Clara established over the last season means that series nine can really hit the ground running.

“We’re mid-shooting at the moment,” said Coleman, who returns to set on Monday, “and, in a way, we’ve found our groove together… There’s kind of a freedom to us both being in our glory years.”

As you saw in the trailer, we’re also getting the returning of Missy/The Master this year and Gomez herself is delighted to return.

“It’s one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever had,” she said, “because it’s just a thrill to turn up and have the opportunity to be the Master. It’s a ‘pinch me’ movement, really… I think he or she or it is kind of everybody’s idea of the best villain you could have… Kind of like the best friend everybody loves to hate. She says the things that we think, but aren’t allowed to say. The rules don’t apply to her and that’s makes her really fun to play.”

“I think she distresses him terribly,” Capaldi explained of the Doctor and the Master’s unique relationship, “But I think he’s pleased to see her.”

When asked by an audience member to explain Missy’s perfect day, Gomez instantly came up with something perfectly appropriate to both the character and to Comic-Con.

“Her perfect day would be starting with some tea, maybe croissants, and then slapping Wonder Woman in the face… The Doctor is a bleeding-heart liberal and I like to kill a lot of people for fun.”

“It’s the relationship between a vegetarian and a hunter,” Moffat added later, teasing “…The way Missy comes back into the Doctor’s life is not something you’re going to predict.”

When asked if he’d like to see a female Doctor, Moffat reiterated that he entirely believes that the Doctor could regenerate as a woman. As to whether that will actually happen, however, Moffat is keeping mum. Of course, he’s known to be pretty tight-lipped when it comes to spoilers of any kind.

“It’s going to be surprising what she gets up to,” Moffat responded when someone in the audience asked about “Game of Thrones” star Maisie Williams’ upcoming appearance on the show, “but I honestly can’t say a thing about it at all.”

Titled “The Girl Who Died” and “The Woman Who Lived,” the episodes that are said to feature Williams are the fifth and sixth episodes of series nine. “Died” is written by Moffat and Jamie Mathieson, while “Lived” is written by Catherine Tregenna. Both are directed by Ed Bazalgette.

“What took you so long, old man?” and a seeming familiarity with the Doctor are currently our only hard and solid clues as far as Williams’ character, but there are already plenty of fan theories circulating, many hypothesizing that Williams may be playing anyone from a regenerated version of the tenth Doctor’s daughter, Jenny, to the first Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan.

Susan, introduced in the pilot episode, “An Unearthly Child,” was played by Carole Anne Ford. She was also the first of the Doctor’s companions to leave the show, abandoned by the Doctor in the 22nd century following the events of the 1964 episode arc “The Dalek Invasion of Earth.” Whether or not Susan will be returning in series nine is anyone’s guess, although the character did get a shout-out from Capaldi during the panel.

“I think he’d like to see his granddaughter again,” Capaldi responded when asked which previous “Doctor Who” companion he’d most like to traverse space and time with.

As if that’s not quite enough to speculate on, Moffat made clear that he’s not against a “Doctor Who” / “Sherlock” crossover, although he didn’t say that anything specific was being planned. “Last Christmas” did introduce a clever plot device to let the Doctor meet fictional characters, however…

How would Capaldi’s Doctor react to meeting Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes? Capaldi had an immediate deadpan answer.

“More cleverly.”

What do you think is going to happen in series nine? Share your theories in the comments below!