Despite becoming one of King Hydroflax’s heads in The Husbands Of River Song, Nardole – as played by Matt Lucas – will return in Doctor Who series 10. By the looks of it, he’s in rather a lot of episodes.

If you’re wondering why showrunner Steven Moffat made the decision to bring Nardole back, then here’s the answer, as Moffat spelled it out in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine:

“I decided Nardole should return to Doctor Who when Matt Lucas got in touch saying, ‘I loved being in that show. Can I come back?’ And I sat there thinking, ‘Okay, so this guy who’s out in LA being offered every kind of pilot and every kind of career advancement has basically decided that instead of all that wealth and spectacular success, he’d rather go to Cardiff and make Doctor Who.’

“I thought, ‘He is of my kind. He belongs to our world.’ And so now that was an opportunity – given that it was in front of me and possible – I decided to import the best comic timing I’ve ever seen into Doctor Who on a regular basis.”

So, there you have it. Lucas is coming back simply because he asked Moffat if he could.

The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who series 10 will air in spring 2017. We’ll let you know when an exact start date is announced.

According to Film and TV industry website The Knowledge, the cameras will finish rolling on the Doctor’s next set of timey wimey adventures on Friday the 31st of March 2017.