<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> ← Previous Series 9 Next → Series 11 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> List of Doctor Who episodes (2005--present) </Td> </Tr> <P> The tenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 15 April 2017 and concluded on 1 July 2017, and consisted of twelve episodes, after it was announced in July 2015 that BBC Worldwide had invested in a tenth series of the programme in its annual review . The series is led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, alongside executive producer Brian Minchin . It is the third and final series overseen by the two as executive producers, as well as Moffat's sixth and final series as head writer . This series is the tenth to air following the programme's revival in 2005, and is the thirty - sixth season overall . </P> <P> Preceded by a Christmas special in December 2016, "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the series is the third and final series starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, an incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside; Capaldi announced in January 2017 that he would be stepping down from the role after the tenth series . The series introduces Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, the Doctor's newest travelling companion, and also features Matt Lucas as Nardole, who appeared in the 2015 and 2016 Christmas specials . Michelle Gomez and John Simm return as their respective incarnations of the Master . The main story arc for the first half of the series revolved around the Doctor and Nardole occupying themselves as a university professor and assistant while they guard an underground vault containing Missy, who the Doctor has sworn to protect for a thousand years after her supposed execution . Missy later travels with the team in the TARDIS, and eventually partners with her previous incarnation as they all battle a Cyberman onslaught aboard a Mondasian colony ship . </P>

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