Doctor Who: 12 Things You Need To Know About Series 9

7. A Terrifying Two-Parter

As mentioned previously on this list, it's been confirmed that there will be at least one two-parter in Series 9 (oh, it's directed by Daniel O€™Hara, by the way) which really isn't that much to write home about but it's still news that has managed to excite Doctor Who fans way more than it probably should. It's safe to say that there's been a distinct lack of them in the series as of late. The most recent was the Series 8 finale, Dark Water and Death in Heaven, but before that there hadn't been one since 2011 (The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People) so it's high time the Doctor - and us - was given the chance to get his teeth into a meaty two-part adventure. Steven Moffat has recently revealed that he's made the conscious decision to steer away from them in favour of more standalone stories but the truth is, two-parters are always much more satisfying, narratively speaking, as there's more time (90 minutes, in fact) for the story to be developed and then concluded with a worthy pay off. If Doctor Who fans had their way, every episode would clock in at an hour and a half but that remains a forlorn fantasy which makes the concept of being able to sit down to a new two-parter even more exciting, not to mention the fact it's written by Toby Whithouse who has certainly paid his sci-fi dues. Doctor Who fans generally refrain from using the phrase "what could possibly go wrong?" seeing as when the Doctor says it he usually ends up stuck in a cave with Satan himself, so let's not jinx it, eh? It's definitely going to be a treat, though.