Series 8 ( Doctor Who ) Series 8 of " Doctor Who " , consisting of 12 episodes , began airing on 23 August 2014 , and ended on 8 November 2014 . Filming began on 6 January 2014 , and ended on 7 August of the same year . This was the first full series to feature the Twelfth Doctor , played by Peter Capaldi ; he was joined by Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald as primary companion throughout the entire run . Series 8 was the first series since series 5 in 2010 to be broadcast straight with no series split halfway through it , and the first series of the revival not to consist of 13 episodes ( excluding Christmas and other specials ) , instead running for 12 . The overarching story elements revolve around characters who have died in the episode being greeted to ' Heaven , ' by a woman named Missy , where the heaven is revealed to be a data cloud to store the minds of the deceased , as Missy ( The Master ) upgrades the bodies into Cybermen before manipulating the minds to delete their emotions and put them into their old cyber - upgraded bodies as an army . This is a plan to lure the Doctor into a trap so she can get her ' friend back . ' Overview . Series 8 saw the debut of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor . Capaldi was announced in a live television special , " " , on 4 August 2013 . The previous Doctor , Matt Smith , announced he was leaving on 1 June of the same year . The new Doctor was joined by Series 7 , Part 2 ' s companion , Clara Oswald , as played by Jenna Coleman , in her first full series . Samuel Anderson joined the cast as a new recurring character , Danny Pink , a fellow teacher at Coal Hill School . Although initially reported by media as being a new companion for the Doctor , in fact the character never actually took on an official companion role during the course of the season . The Paternoster Gang returned , each using a sonic device designed in a " Blue Peter " competition in the series . Kate Stewart , Osgood and UNIT also appeared . This series also saw the return of the Master , now in a female incarnation known as Missy , played by Michelle Gomez . Production . Brian Minchin , the new producer of the series , explained in the July 2013 issue of " Doctor Who Magazine " that " I have just spent a very happy few days meeting some scarily clever writers , and we have an incredible set of stories to work on . More adventures ahead ! " . In a May 2013 interview , Steven Moffat claimed that " the next season is plotted out . " The first read - through for series 8 was held on 17 December 2013 . This was an unusually long lead time , as actual filming for the first episodes of series 8 did not commence until 6 January 2014 , with Capaldi filming his first scenes the next day . In a break from what was done with Christopher Eccleston , David Tennant and Matt Smith and several Classic era Doctors , the first episode filmed by Capaldi was also to be the first episode to be broadcast . Crew . Producers . Series 8 was co - executive produced by Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin . ( DWM 460 ) Series 7 ' s producer , Caroline Skinner , officially stepped down on 13 March 2013 , and Minchin was announced as her replacement on 30 April . Producer Marcus Wilson stepped down following production of " The Time of the Doctor " . His role was filled by former producers Nikki Wilson and Peter Bennett . Writers . Steven Moffat penned both the series opener , episode 4 , and the two - part series finale , as well as co - writing on episodes 2 , 5 and 6 . Phil Ford wrote episode 2 , Mark Gatiss wrote episode 3 , Steve Thompson ' s script is for episode 5 , and Gareth Roberts wrote episode 6 of the series . Three new writers joined the series : Peter Harness ( episode 7 ) , Jamie Mathieson ( episodes 8 and 9 ) and Frank Cottrell Boyce ( episode 10 ) . All three of these new writers returned for further episodes , in later series . Directors . Ben Wheatley direct ed episodes one and two . Paul Murphy directed episodes 3 and 6 , Douglas Mackinnon directed episodes 4 , 5 and 9 , Paul Wilmshurst directed episodes 7 and 8 , Sheree Folkson directed episode 10 , and Rachel Talalay directed the two - part finale .