Dr Who is returning to BBC One for what will be Peter Capaldi's last series as the Doctor. Whovians, don't despair: there's still plenty to get excited about.

Big things are happening across time and space. Firstly, there's the arrival of a brand new assistant, Bill Potts (a woman, of course) but also a gay woman.

Queue social media furore and the marvellous response by director Steven Moffat, who said: 'We didn't know there was going to be all that fuss and there shouldn't be – that's kind of nonsense. So just to be clear, we're not expecting any kind of round of applause or at on the back for that. The correct response should be "What took you so long?" '

This series, a chance encounter with Bill leads to a horrifying chase across the universe. Best of all, fans can expect to see the historic return of John Simms and an appearance by comedy stalwart Matt Lucas.