Alan Cumming’s Doctor Who Episode Has Been Revealed

Tonight’s episode of Doctor Who was hardly the show’s strongest outing. Considered by most to be the low point of season 11 – at least, thus far – it was a harmless, though slightly dull episode which stumbled more than it sprinted. But then again, it’s hard to stay in tip-top shape all season long and the latest run of the sci-fi series has been pretty exceptional so far.

It looks like things will pick back up in the coming weeks, too, as the BBC have released some new plot synopses teasing what to expect and both episodes 7 and 8 sound like exciting ones. The former, airing on November 18th, is titled “Kerblam!” and goes a little something like this:

“‘Delivery for the Doctor!’ A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor, leading her, Graham, Yaz and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy’s largest retailer: Kerblam!”

Episode 8, meanwhile, will see Alan Cumming guest star as King James I (check him out in the gallery above) and given that it’s titled “The Witchfinders,” you can probably already guess what it’ll be about. If not, though, here’s the synopsis:

“The Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz arrive in 17th century Lancashire and become embroiled in a witch trial, run by the local landowner. As fear stalks the land, the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But is there something even more dangerous at work? Can the Doctor and friends keep the people of Bilehurst Cragg safe from all the forces that are massing in the land?”

So, lots of good stuff on the way, then, and we’re particularly excited to see Cumming on the show. After all, the actor’s known for his various parts in the likes of GoldenEye, Spy Kids, X2 and The Good Wife, among many others, and is also no stranger to Who. In fact, he’s even been asked to play the lead role on not just one, but two occasions. As such, it’ll be nice to see him guest star and we look forward to watching his take on King James I when the episode premieres on November 25th.

But before that, Doctor Who will continue next week with 11×06, “Demons of the Punjab.”