Don’t Fret! Familiar Faces Will Be Stopping By DOCTOR WHO Series 8
As we venture in to a new season of the time travelling doctor with a NEW Doctor, it will comfort most to know that familiar faces will abound in Season 8. Although we will have to learn a whole new Doctor in Peter Capaldi, Clara Oswald, played by the beautiful Jenna Coleman, will be accompanying him once more. As is the formula lately with the show, the new incarnation will share the TARDIS with a familiar companion. This also brings up another question that rivals the first and oldest question and, yes, it’s always hidden in plain sight: Will Clara leave midseason as most other great companions have? The rumors have already started flying. Nothing confirmed, but, if showrunner Steven Moffat is anything, he is a man of winning formulas and this seems to be the most winning. Of course, BBC officials say to watch the show to find out. And we will.
Is Season 8 her last?
The other well known faces coming in the first episode, Deep Breath, are the odd trio of Victorian sleuths who, along with the good Doctor, make up what is known among Whovians as the Paternoster Gang. Lady Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) and the gender confused (no really, he can’t tell them apart apparently) Strax (Dan Starkey) will be once again aiding the doctor in solving the problem of a dinosaur in London and unexplained spontaneous combustions. They seem to be a fan favorite for occasional companions, not to mention a favorite of Moffat who had them play heavily in the Matt Smith era.
If you love the Paternoster Gang like most Who fans, they have spun off into a Novella (Devil in the Smoke) as well as several online ‘minisodes’ some of which appear of the Doctor Who website.
For those of you not in the ‘Who Know’, Madame Vastra is of the alien species known as Silurian, a reptilian race, and also plays the role of a Sherlock Holmes type in most of her encounters with the Doctor. Hiding her obvious alien nature from the masses, she has become known as a veiled lady sleuth capable of solving the most complex of crimes. Jenny, her accomplished second and devoted wife, also lends a hand when things seem to get a bit more physical and call for her apt fighting abilities. Strax is a Sontaran nurse who looks a bit like a potato and seems to get easily confused. Being of a warring race, Strax’s usual modus operandi is to simply shoot it or blow it up. All of this, mixed in with the Doctor, makes for much fun to be had in an amazing Victorian backdrop which would otherwise be a bit drab and blah without them, and the plethora of monsters and villains that seem to litter the streets of London.
The BBC has suggested a spinoff for the Poternoster Gang, but show runner, Steven Moffat, has repeatedly rejected the idea.
Also rumored to be appearing in a future show is none other than Matt Smith, the former Doctor. Nothing official as of yet, but Smith has publicly relished the idea. And all of us Whovians know how well the 50th anniversary went with not only Smith and David Tennant playing the Doctor, but William Hurt as the ‘War Doctor’ and brief appearances of all the other Doctors previous (and even Capaldi’s future Doctor). Smith has hinted that a good place for a cameo would be during the 10th anniversary of the rebooted series coming up soon.
A return for Smith?
Whatever becomes of this rumor, we have the reassurance that, though we have to learn the ways of a totally new and DIFFERENT Doctor, that journey will be made with friends.
The 8th season of Doctor Who debuts tonight on BBC in England Saturday night.
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