In the season 8 finale of "Doctor Who," entitled, "Death in Heaven," Osgood, played by Ingrid Oliver was mercilessly disintegrated by Missy. Osgood is a UNIT scientist and assistant with the penchant for dressing up like the different incarnations of the Doctor. Prior to her demise, the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, hinted that he may consider making her his companion. It seems that despite her death in season 8, Osgood will be back in season 9.

"Osgood is back, fresh from her recent murder at the end of last series," says showrunner Steven Moffat in the BBC's official press release. "We recently confirmed that Osgood was definitely dead and not returning - but in a show about time travel, anything can happen. The brilliant Ingrid Oliver is back in action. This time though, can the Doctor trust his number one fan?"

Oliver will reprise her role as Osgood in a two-part episode written by Peter Harness (episodes 7 and 8) She will be fighting her old shape-shifting foes, the Zygons. Oliver expressed delight in receiving the call to come back for series 9.

"As every actor who's worked on Doctor Who will tell you, there's always the secret hope you'll get the call asking you to come back. To actually receive that call is both unexpected and brilliant. The word 'honour' gets banded about a lot, but it really is, it's an honour. Especially because I was so sure Osgood was a goner after the last series!" she said.

Apart from Osgood returning, here is a rundown of what we know so far about season 9. It will have 12 episodes and an additional Christmas special, very similar to season 8. According to executive producer Brian Minchin, the mission statement they had for season 9 was "bigger adventures, and to go further in space and time."

It is also reported (based on an excerpt of an interview with Moffat in the current issue of Doctor Who Magazine) that an explanation will be forthcoming on why the Twelfth Doctor has the same face as Caecilius from "The Fires of Pompeii" (the second episode of season 4). It should be remembered that Capaldi also starred as a different character in "Torchwood", a multi-media spin-off of "Doctor Who" that aired from 2006 to 2011.

Episode 1 of Season 9 of "Doctor Who," entitled "The Magician's Apprentice," will air on BBC in the fall.