‘Doctor Who’ Season 9 News: Guests, News, And A Possible ‘Sherlock’ Crossover?

Doctor Who’s ninth season is shaping up to be one for the ages.

Den of Geek is reporting that the Doctor Who Instagram page has several seemingly unrelated photographs, including The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) with a yo-yo, numerous cakes, and what looks like the Chameleon Arch pocket watch. There is nothing to give meaning to the photographs, but the Doctor Who trusthead have done crazier things before.

One bit of scheduling news is that Maisie Williams, recently of the Game of Thrones television series, is joining Doctor Who for Series 9.

Williams said, “I’m so excited to be working on Doctor Who as it’s such a big and important part of British Culture. I can’t wait to meet the cast and crew and start filming, especially as we’ll be shooting not too far from my home town.”

Showrunner Steven Moffat said, “[W]e’re thrilled to have Maisie Williams joining us on Doctor Who. It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.”

Two storylines from this season have also been confirmed. Jamie Mathieson (Flatline, Mummy on the Orient Express) will write “The Girl Who Died”, while Torchwood’s Catherine Tregenna has written “The Woman Who Lived.” Ed Bazalgette (Poldark) will direct.

Probably the most intriguing story arc for this season, however, is being reported by Unreality TV. Moffat, who works on both Doctor Who and Sherlock, has constantly been goaded by fans of both shows to create some kind of crossover for the two. For years, Moffat has declined to do so.

One possible obstacle for this is mainly because Sherlock is affixed in the present, while Doctor Who can go anywhere, anytime. So, the most conceivable way would be for The Doctor to travel to the present to visit Mr. Holmes. Possible, but Moffat has been reluctant. That is, until now.

It has been reported that most of the apprehension comes from the Sherlock side, from stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and co-creator Mark Gattis, who has written for and acted in Doctor Who. Moffat has been told by the three that “it will never be as good as they think it’s going to be’, but then decided, “Yes, but we’ll just bang it out and make it as good.”

Moffat added, “‘Yeah, but you can’t give everybody everything they want all the time’. I’m in the camp of giving them everything they want. But I think they’re sane and right and I’m just a tart.”

Moffat is still working on that. If time is a factor, however, it soon won’t be. The BBC has revealed that it would like to renew Doctor Who for at least five more years. It comes as a shock to Moffat, who recently stated that he never thought the new incarnation of the series would go as long as it has.

“I didn’t think it would last 10 years with BBC Worldwide trying to get me in a room to talk about their plan for the next five years. So it’s going to do a minimum of 15 years,” he said.

[Image courtesy of the Independent]