Neil Gaiman’s Second Doctor Who Episode Will Feature The Return Of The Cybermen
Author Neil Gaiman broke some very exciting news a while back: he is returning to pen a second Doctor Who episode for later this season. Appropriately enough, he made this announcement while accepting a Hugo Award for his first Doctor Who ep, “The Doctor’s Wife.” And while it was great to hear that Gaiman would be penning a second ep, we haven’t known much of anything about it…until now. The BBC has confirmed that Gaiman’s upcoming episode will feature the return of long-time Who baddies the Cybermen.
Gaiman’s Cybermen episode is slated to air as episode 13 of the current season. In addition to current Doctor Matt Smith and new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman, the episode will feature some guest stars that should be familiar to fans of British television. Willow himself, Warwick Davis, will appear alongside Tamzin Outhwaite (Hotel Babylon) and Jason Watkins (from the original British version of Being Human. Here’s the official BBC statement:
We can confirm that the Cybermen will be menacing the universe once again when Doctor Who returns for a run of eight epic episodes in spring, 2013.The iconic enemies will feature in an adventure directed by Stephen Woolfenden and written by the acclaimed Neil Gaiman whose previous episode was the Hugo Award-winning, The Doctor’s Wife.
The Cybermen have been featured several times during the modern Who run, beginning in the two-part “Rise of the Cybermen”/”The Age of Steel” two-parter, and continuing sporadically up through 2011’s “Closing Time.” Gaiman did an amazing job making fans look at the TARDIS in a very different way during “The Doctor’s Wife,” so it will be interesting to see if he can bring us a new take on the Cybermen.
Finally, Who showrunner Steven Moffat offered his thoughts on the news:
Cybermen were always the monsters that scared me the most! Not just because they were an awesome military force, but because sometimes they could be sleek and silver and right behind you without you even knowing. And with one of the all-time classic monsters returning, and a script from one of our finest novelists, it’s no surprise we have attracted such stellar names as Tamzin, Jason and Warwick.
We’ll bring you more news when we hear it, otherwise we’ll just have to wait till next year to see what Gaiman has for us.
