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May 8th, 2015 51 comments

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Zygons and Osgood Return to Doctor Who in Series 9

Double trouble in Doctor Who as Osgood takes on the terrifying Zygons

Cruel, heartless and shocking? Having being killed by Missy (Michelle Gomez) in the show’s series eight finale ‘Death in Heaven’, the Doctor’s biggest fan and UNIT scientist Osgood, played by Ingrid Oliver, has been brought back by Steven Moffat for Doctor Who series nine.

Steven Moffat, lead writer and Executive Producer, said:

“Osgood is back, fresh from her recent murder at the end of last series. We recently confirmed that Osgood was definitely dead and not returning – but in a show about time travel, anything can happen. The brilliant Ingrid Oliver is back in action. This time though, can the Doctor trust his number one fan?”

The last time we saw Osgood as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart’s assistant was with the Twelfth Doctor during an invasion of Earth by an army of Cybermen led by a new, female incarnation of the Master. This time she’s back in action and comes face-to-face with the shape-shifting extra-terrestrial Zygons, as they also return for the new series. They last appeared in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ for the show’s 50th anniversary episode.

Speaking on set, Ingrid Oliver commented on her reappearance:

“As every actor who’s worked on Doctor Who will tell you, there’s always the secret hope you’ll get the call asking you to come back. To actually receive that call is both unexpected and brilliant. The word ‘honour’ gets banded about a lot, but it really is, it’s an honour. Especially because I was so sure Osgood was a goner after the last series!”

The two-part episode is currently being filmed in Cardiff and is written by Peter Harness (Doctor Who – Kill the Moon, Wallander, Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell), produced by Peter Bennett and directed by Daniel Nettheim (Line of Duty, Glue).

Also joining Peter Capaldi (The Doctor) and Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) and confirmed for guest roles in the double episode is Jemma Redgrave, Jaye Griffiths, Cleopatra Dickens, Sasha Dickens, Abhishek Singh, Todd Kramer, Jill Winternitz, Nicholas Asbury, Jack Parker and Aidan Cook.

Doctor Who series nine will be back on BBC One in Autumn 2015 and further guest cast will be released over the coming months. Doctor Who is a BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC One.


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51 comments

  • Cousins2019

    May 18th, 2015 - 11:35am

    No one ever really dies in Doctor Who

    Reply
  • Kiba

    May 16th, 2015 - 7:38pm

    Did anyone notice how calm Osgood was in ‘Death in Heaven’? If I remember correct she never used her asthma pump. Perhaps that Osgood was the Zygon?

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      May 17th, 2015 - 4:33am

      That thought had crossed my mind.

    • CJ

      May 17th, 2015 - 11:22am

      If that is the case, then Steven Moffat is definitely a troll!

    • Bob

      May 31st, 2015 - 12:56am

      She did use her asthma inhaler but only once when the Doctor promised to take her with him. But I think you may be on to something.

  • CJ

    May 15th, 2015 - 6:45pm

    Peter Harness has said that this two-parter will have a big cliffhanger… This will be exciting!

    Reply
  • drwhofan4ever

    May 11th, 2015 - 8:33pm

    If you watch the video about Rufus hound in the read through you can’t see Jenna Coleman, does this mean she has been killed off or something.

    Reply
  • CJ

    May 10th, 2015 - 4:54pm

    Osgood is either:

    – the Zygon from TDOTD
    – or a past selve

    Those are the only two explanations unless any of you have any…

    Reply
    • Dem squiggles

      May 11th, 2015 - 4:01pm

      Maybe the osgood that was killed was a zygon

    • CJ

      May 11th, 2015 - 4:41pm

      I wouldn’t be surprise if it was

  • TrueWhovian17

    May 10th, 2015 - 3:01pm

    Im glad the Zygons are back as they were always my favourite classic monster even though I have never watched any classic who. I just always seemed to like the concept of them and I was excitited they were in DOTD. My guess for Osgood is maybe that zapping thing Missy used didn’t kill osgood, it just teleported heror something. E

    Reply
    • TrueWhovian17

      May 10th, 2015 - 3:02pm

      K, messed up computer. Probably Zygon Osgood, seems to be the most poular explanation

  • drwhofan4ever

    May 9th, 2015 - 10:22am

    YAYYY! Osgood’s back. YAYYY! The zygons are back. Can not wait for the new series to air.

    Reply
  • Obsie

    May 9th, 2015 - 7:52am

    Yay ! for the Zygons being back, let’s hope they have more to do this time and are serious in threat mode, unlike Sontarans who are becoming comic fodder. As for Osgood, all very well saying with ” time travel anything can happen” but stop messing around with people being dead one minute and then alive the next, it’s becoming trite.

    Reply
  • Dalek The Supreme

    May 9th, 2015 - 3:45am

    I liked Osgood as a character, but they should have her stay dead. It would ruin one of the best scenes of Death in Heaven.

    Reply
    • MrHaloWho

      May 9th, 2015 - 11:16am

      Remember the one Doctor Who rule: nobody is ever gone for good.

    • Anonymous

      May 9th, 2015 - 2:19pm

      Time Travel remember….I bet she is still dead and that excellent scene still stands…but they visit her in the past.

    • CJ

      May 9th, 2015 - 2:43pm

      Its either that or she could be the Zygon from the Day of the Doctor.

    • Peking Homunculus

      May 9th, 2015 - 6:13pm

      Most likely the Zygon from Day of the Doctor, although that’s edging close to territory that Eighth Doctor Adventure’s ‘The Zygon Who Fell to Earth’ already trod

    • Anonymous

      May 9th, 2015 - 10:06pm

      Everyone dies in Doctor Who.

    • the silence

      May 10th, 2015 - 12:43pm

      the Zygon can only stay in Osgoods form if she was still alive which she clearly isn’t

  • justyn

    May 9th, 2015 - 12:17am

    just a thought are two of season 9 episode called The girl who Lived,and The girl who died?If so then the girl must be Osgood.

    Reply
    • CJ

      May 9th, 2015 - 7:39am

      Those are episodes 5 and 6, plus its the Woman Who Lived not Girl. Osgood and the Zygons will be in Episode7 and 8 just like UNIT are

  • CJ

    May 8th, 2015 - 9:49pm

    I bet its the Zygon Osgood

    Reply
    • doctor who fan 11

      May 9th, 2015 - 9:03am

      That’s what I was thinking

    • Masterwho

      May 10th, 2015 - 2:44pm

      The zygons’ body printing only works of the person being copied is still alive.

    • CJ

      May 10th, 2015 - 4:45pm

      Yes and Osgood was alive when the Zygon took her form

    • DoctorRiverTARDIS

      May 13th, 2015 - 11:16pm

      Yeah, but the human needs to stay alive for the zygon to keep the shape, that’s why they kept Kate alive in the 50th, otherwise it could have just copied her and killed her rather than cover her in gross red gooey stuff

  • Finally eyeballs

    May 8th, 2015 - 8:58pm

    Two parts and zygons

    Reply
    • Dem squiggles

      May 8th, 2015 - 9:00pm

      Ooh wrong name

    • Dem squiggles

      May 9th, 2015 - 11:10am

      It’s like heaven

  • The Werewolf

    May 8th, 2015 - 8:58pm

    I really wanted Osgood to be dead, this news is so annoying. But at least the Zygons are back, I love them.

    Reply
  • RORY DOCTOR RIVER POND

    May 8th, 2015 - 8:53pm

    Its a shame they revealed the surprise, but I’m pleased none the less.

    Reply
  • 2doctors2000

    May 8th, 2015 - 7:39pm

    It says the Doctor can’t trust here, I believe this time its the shape shifting Zygon Osgood, and indeed the real Osgood died, it would all make sense considering it;s a Zygon episode.
    Maybe it explaina the god damn ending the TDOTD sub plot! 😀

    Reply
    • 2doctors2000

      May 8th, 2015 - 7:40pm

      her*

    • CJ

      May 9th, 2015 - 7:40am

      I agree!

    • Doyouhearthem?

      May 9th, 2015 - 8:49am

      I think that one of the best things about DOTD is that subplot. It reminds us that the real victory is not the decision, but the fact that two completely different peoples are able to accept one another’s viewpoint in the first place, even if only to the point of preliminary discussion.
      Let’s say they did make a decision- then there are probably Zygons living among us right now. You could be related to one.

  • The five doctors

    May 8th, 2015 - 6:24pm

    YES!!! Love the zygons and Osgood’s character!!!

    Reply
  • The Surgeon

    May 8th, 2015 - 5:30pm

    The Osgood in Dark Water could well have been the Zygon.

    Reply
    • 100,000BC

      May 8th, 2015 - 6:22pm

      You’re right, but that makes the death meaningless. In my opinion, she either has to be a zygon who is a different character in her own right or a past-tense pre-Death in Heaven Osgood.

  • Doctor Stu

    May 8th, 2015 - 4:12pm

    Sigh Osgoods death was cruel and showed how fierce the master (missy) was, bringing her back to life just ruins that…if a character has died they should stay dead

    Reply
  • 100,000BC

    May 8th, 2015 - 3:48pm

    I hope that this is either a past Osgood or Zygon Osgood.

    I don’t like how Moffat brings back to life everyone that he kills.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Osgood on DW again but only as a past version or a Zygon version.

    Reply
    • 100,000BC

      May 8th, 2015 - 3:59pm

      In fiction, dead people should mostly stay dead. Moffat’s Who makes people live forever.
      Nothing against him really, but people say he kills off loads of characters, when in reality…
      The Complete List Of Permanent Deaths Of Characters In Moffat Episodes:
      Reinette (who was a historical figure and died naturally)
      Lorna Bucket
      Handles
      The Dinosaur in Deep Breath
      Danny Pink

    • Anonymous

      May 8th, 2015 - 7:09pm

      And Danny
      a) turned up again in a dream
      b) may well come back again haha

    • 100,000BC

      May 8th, 2015 - 7:28pm

      I don’t tend to count Reinette either as she is a historical character and already had an established death.
      Handles was a Cyberman head without real feelings.
      The dinosaur was… a dinosaur.

      So are we left with JUST Lorna Bucket?

  • Anonymous

    May 8th, 2015 - 3:43pm

    Osgood should stay dead. Get over it.

    Reply
  • Dalekparadigm2

    May 8th, 2015 - 3:39pm

    Yyeeeeeeeees!!!!

    Reply
  • CJ

    May 8th, 2015 - 3:21pm

    YES! This is exciting news…

    Reply
  • DOCTOR WHO ONE

    May 8th, 2015 - 3:04pm

    No fan of Zygon’s, but glad Osgood is back . . . . . thou is it going to be the real Osgood or her Zygon counterpart from ‘Day of the Doctor’ 2 years ago ?.

    Cos the real Osgood seemed to have been killed by Missy, or could it have been the Zygon Osgood instead ? . . . . . that’s just it, we don’t know cos we don’t know what happened to the Zygon’s after the events of ‘Day of the Doctor’.

    I’m guessing it’s Zygon Osgood we will see, either that, or the Doctor has gone back to a time before the real Osgood died, or it’s a mere flashback to unseen moment in the real Osgood’s life.

    Reply
    • CJ

      May 8th, 2015 - 3:22pm

      You might be right

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