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

6. The Magician's Apprentice

Unfortunately there was no Series 9 teaser trailer at the end of last year's Christmas Special (understandable, really, seeing as they hadn't actually filmed any of it yet!) but it wasn't all bad news for the Doctor Who fans who were left desperate for an insight into their hero's forthcoming adventures, which was basically all of them. The tantalising title of the Series 9 premiere episode was intriguingly revealed as The Magician's Apprentice during the closing credits which has certainly given us a lot to think about. But just who is 'The Magician's Apprentice' that the elusive title is alluding to? It's probably referring to Clara Oswald whose similarities to the titular Time Lord were made increasingly apparent throughout the course of the last series (hell - her face even replaced Peter Capaldi's in the opening titles at one point!), although some people have decided that that's what they want us to think. As such, fans didn't waste any time in coming up with their own weird and wonderful theories and another popular candidate for the prestigious accolade is Shona McCullough who is widely expected to return at some point in Series 9. Introduced in Last Christmas, the character was ever handy with a notebook and even called the Doctor a 'magician' at one point so the odds are most definitely in her favour. Unless it was all a red herring to throw us all off the scent, of course, in which case none of it even matters anyway. Still, here are 10 reasons Shona should become a new companion if you refuse to give up hope. What's more, there hasn't been any concrete confirmation that the 'Magician' in the title is even the Doctor, either, but surely it'd makes sense that it is? It'll probably turn out to have multiple meanings, anyway. The Magician's Apprentice could be Clara, Shona, someone else entirely or just all of the above at once. That's very Moffat, isn't it?
Doctor Who Editor
Doctor Who Editor

Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.