The Witch's Familiar

254b – "The Witch's Familiar"
Doctor Who episode
The two-parter saw the return of the original silver-blue Daleks from 1963.
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Others Michelle Gomez – Missy Julian Bleach – Davros Jami Reid-Quarrell – Colony Sarff Joey Price – Boy Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Daleks Barnaby Edwards – Dalek Nicholas Pegg – Dalek
Production
Directed by	Hettie MacDonald
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	David P Davis
Produced by	Peter Bennett
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Series	Series 9
Length	2nd of 2-part story, 50 minutes
Originally broadcast	26 September 2015 (2015-09-26)
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "The Magician's Apprentice" "Under the Lake"

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	94%
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	8.6
The A.V. Club	A-
Paste Magazine	9.0
SFX Magazine
TV Fanatic
IndieWire	A+
IGN	8.9
New York Magazine
Daily Telegraph
Radio Times

"The Witch's Familiar" is the second episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 26 September 2015. It is written by Steven Moffat and directed by Hettie MacDonald. It is the second part of the story, following "The Magician's Apprentice".

In the pair of episodes, alien time traveller the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) battles his old enemies the Daleks and attempts to save his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman). Julian Bleach and Michelle Gomez reprised their roles as Davros and Missy, the current incarnation of the Master, respectively. The episode received critical acclaim, with many praising Michelle Gomez' performance as Missy and the interactions between the Doctor and Davros.

Several different designs of the Daleks from across the series' history reappear in the episode, alongside their creator, Davros, and their home planet, Skaro.

After being seemingly killed by the Daleks at the climax of "The Magician's Apprentice", Clara finds herself outside the Dalek city with Missy. Missy explains how they managed to escape: using energy fired from the Daleks' weapons to teleport themselves away via their vortex manipulators (which they'd used to find the Doctor in the previous episode), destroying the devices in the process. Missy illustrates the method by relating a previous instance in which the Doctor performed the same trickery.