‘Doctor Who’ season 8 spoilers: Ben Miller joins Mark Gatiss-penned episode

Has “Doctor Who” found their next great villain to square off against Peter Capaldi? Provided that Ben Miller is really playing a villain, this may be the case. Either way, the BBC series has been gifted another awesome guest star for season 8, and this news is made even more exciting given that we are talking about the episode written by “Sherlock’s” Mark Gatiss.

The BBC always gets it right when it comes to guest castings, releasing official statements that let you hear what all parties involved have to say. If only more American networks did this, wouldn’t things be much more efficient? First of all, let’s start with comments from Miller, a former comedy duo member who is also known for starring in “Primeval” and appearing in “Death in Paradise”:

“As a committed Whovian I cannot believe my luck in joining the Twelfth Doctor for one of his inaugural adventures. My only worry is that they’ll make me leave the set when I’m not filming.”

So there you have it: A Whovian joining a series fronted by another Whovian in Capaldi. It is virtually impossible to not be excited about this.

As for statement #2, executive producer Steven Moffat let the cat out of the bag that Miller would be playing the bad guy for this story:

“Mark Gatiss has written us a storming villain for his new episode, and with Capaldi in the TARDIS, we knew we needed somebody special to send everybody behind the sofa. And quite frankly, it’s about time Ben Miller was in Doctor Who!”

Somehow, “Doctor Who” almost always gets their castings right, so there’s no reason to push the panic button for Miller. The new season starts in the fall on both BBC One and BBC America, and you can click here for further updates. Also, you can get all of the TV news we cover here courtesy ofour CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: BBC