'Doctor Who' to Bring Back the Cybermen in a 'Darker and Scarier' Series 12 Next Year

Doctor Who Series 11, which aired in 2018, broke records with its first episode, "The Woman Who Fell to Earth." Nearly 11 million viewers saw Jodie Whittaker in her debut episode that sparked a unique series of ten standalone episodes with all new writers, actors, directors and monsters.

Come the end of the eleventh series, it got mixed reviews from Doctor Who fans. The series—excluding the New Year’s Day special—was a series of brand new, never before seen monsters. From the Stenza to bubble wrap, there was a great mix of new monsters, but the series needed old enemies, which would’ve boosted the series to a great height. Now that’s about to change, as it has been said that the Cybermen are stomping back on to our screens in 2020 for Series 12.

First seen in the 1960s with William Hartnell as the First Doctor, The Daily Mirror has revealed the metal men are due to return in the upcoming series in a much "darker and scarier" series. Traveling back in time to the 19th century, the Doctor and her gang will come face-to-face with the Cybermen in a horror-like story that sees "the part-human, part-machine monsters inspiring author Mary Shelley to write iconic horror novel Frankenstein." An unnamed source said:

“This new run is much scarier than Jodie’s first year and will definitely put the frighteners on fans. Things are about to get darker for the Doctor.”

The Cybermen’s comeback sees them return after an almost three-year break. The deadly enemies of the Doctor were last seen in 2017 for Peter Capaldi’s last ever series finale. The Twelfth Doctor’s Series 10 finale also saw the return of John Simm as the Master and the exit of Michelle Gomez as Missy.

The Cybermen first reappeared in Doctor Who in 2006—one year after the revival—with a redesign from the last time they were seen on screen. Since 2006, the Cybermen have been always returning to cause terror for the Doctor and planet Earth. They also faced another redesign in 2013, which remains the current design of the metal army. It remains unknown at this point in time if current showrunner, Chris Chibnall, will be creating a new design to symbolise his era of the show.

With the return of the Cybermen being good news to fans ears, this reveal comes not long after the BBC officially announced that the Judoon will also make a return in Series 12 for their first proper full story since 2007. Russell T Davies—former showrunner and the creator of the Judoon—has recently spoken out about the rhino headed creatures returning by saying it’s “marvellous” to see them back. Davies said:

“They are returning. Very good research, yes, I know about it,” It’s marvellous, because I know about these things before the public because I own the copyright of them, so they have to phone me up and say, ‘Can we bring them back?’ As if I’m going to say no. And I also get a little bit of money for it, which is very nice – not much, it’s the BBC. But I knew that about six months ago. Normally lawyers would do it, but Chris Chibnall just sent me an email directly, saying, ‘Oi, could we have the Judoon please?’ And I said. ‘Of course you can.'"

It still remains unknown if the Christmas Special will be reinstated this year after it was ditched last year for New Year’s Day. However, you can catch the return of the Judoon and the Cybermen in 2020 when Whittaker returns as the Thirteenth Doctor for her second full series.