Ingrid Oliver is a Doctor Who fangirl on and off screen, here we talk to her about.

There’s one face we’re very happy to see back in Doctor Who – Osgood.

Actress Ingrid Oliver has revealed her shock at her popular character’s return after Doctor Who’s showrunner, Steven Moffat, said Osgood was a definite goner after being killed off by Missy (Michelle Gomez) at the end of series eight.

Oliver told WalesOnline while on location near Newport: “I was surprised after I read an interview with Steven where he said ‘no, she’s dead, she’s not coming back’. I thought ‘oh God’ because secretly I had hoped that I might (return).

“Then I got a phone call and I am back.”

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The last time we saw Osgood as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart’s assistant was with the Twelfth Doctor during an invasion of Earth by an army of Cybermen led by a new, female incarnation of the Master.

This time she’s back in action and comes face-to-face with the shape-shifting extra-terrestrial Zygons, as they also return for the new series.

With Osgood being a Doctor Who super-fan, how does comedian Oliver cope with a brand new fanbase for her character?

“It’s bizarre and brilliant,” she said.

“I got sent a YouTube clip by a friend of fans reacting to them watching the episode. There was a little kid watching it and the bit where Osgood got killed he got really upset and was saying ‘no, no, no’ and he was really angry for quite a while. I was laughing at it thinking it was extraordinary.

“In the grand scheme of things I was not in it for that long so it was lovely that people cared, it was really sweet.”

But it’s the dressing up as her lab assistant-esque character that really intrigues her.

She added: “I got sent a picture of 20 Osgoods and it was absolutely bizarre. One of them was a 60-year-old man, cosplaying Osgood and I thought ‘well, that’s brilliant there is clearly mass appeal for 60-year-old men that want to be a girl scientist!’ It’s a good outfit.

“If I was cosplaying I think I’d go for that. A lab coat is very forgiving.”

And talk of Osgood being a companion is never far away when Oliver is talking Doctor Who – but would she take over the position if anything happened to Clara?

She says diplomatically: “Out of respect to the incumbent companion I would not answer a hypothetical question like that.”

But she adds that Osgood would definitely be a good companion.

“Yeah, she worships the man, so I am sure she would follow him anywhere.”

Doctor Who series nine starts on BBC One on September 19.