Ahead of her return to Doctor Who this coming Saturday, Michelle Gomez has announced that she is following in the footsteps of Peter Capaldi and showrunner Steven Moffat by exiting the BBC sci-fi show in its current tenth series.
“My guys, my lads, Missy’s men – they’re all moving on!” said Gomez in an interview with Digital Spy. “Steven writes so amazingly for me – it’s like he’s got my voice in his head, and I don’t know how that would be, moving forward. I’m probably just shooting myself in the foot here. This time next year, I’ll be like, ‘Why did I say that?! I’ll work for anybody!’ – but I don’t know how I’d feel about being The Master to any other Doctor, because I feel like I’m part of Peter’s time. I’m sure in a couple of years’ time, the urge to blow things up will just be too strong and Missy will come in guns blazing! But at the moment, it just feels like this is the end of an era – there may be something in the future but at the moment, I feel like this is the end of a chapter.”
While Gomez is calling time on the main series (well, for now, at least), she has revealed during a Reddit AMA that she remains keen to headline her own spinoff series, stating: “Missy Who? Make it happen, bitches. Now that’s worth campaigning for.”
In addition to Saturday’s ‘Extremis’, Gomez will be reprising the role of Missy for an appearance in the two-part series ten finale.