'Doctor Who' season to embrace 'fearlessness, abandon'
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Expect The Doctor and Clara Oswald to go on many adventures in the coming season of BBC America's Doctor Who.
Peter Capaldi, entering his second season as The Doctor, and Jenna Coleman (Clara) spoke to Television Critics Association members Friday via satellite from Wales, where they are filming the upcoming season (Sept. 19, 9 p.m. ET/PT).
Scotland native Capaldi, a longtime fan of the United Kingdom series, said he didn't go in with a fixed idea of how to play such an iconic role.
"I had no idea how to play Doctor Who," he said. "It's not a good idea with arrive with a solid, unbending idea of what you should do. So much of what you do is collaborative. You can't develop a role in isolation. You have to do it with other people."
Clara, having lost her love, Danny, has a changed perspective, Coleman said.
"She's no longer divided between life on Earth and life on TARDIS," the Doctor's time-travel machine. "She can go at TARDIS life full throttle, (with) fearlessness and abandon. She and The Doctor throw themselves into adventures head first."
The season, which opens with a two-parter, will feature The Doctor and Clara visiting alien planets, underwater bases and Viking villages. They will face a global Zygon uprising, a city of Daleks and "deadly mercenaries" known as the Mire, according to BBC America.
Michelle Gomez will return as The Master, Missy.
Capaldi describes Gomez' performance as "wonderful, funny, clever, evil," but adds "the role she fulfills will be different from last time. ... She gives The Doctor a hard time."
Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams will make a guest appearance this season.
Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, who was at the TCA panel, wouldn't reveal details about Williams' character, other than to call it "a clever idea" from a colleague.
"It's a significant role. We're not just getting star value and doing nothing with it," he said, adding: "She is a brand new character, not someone from The Doctor's past, unless I'm lying."