Producers of the "Doctor Who" series started filming the eighth and final season of the long-running science-fiction drama on BBC way back in early January 2014 and the series is expected to have a premiere date sometime during the late summer or early fall.

During a recent interview with Uproxx, series director Ben Wheatley said, "I've got two more weeks shooting Doctor Who, which hopefully is going to go in July."

This is an indication that Season 8 may have a release date as early as July 2014.

Earlier, DoctorWhoTV reported that as far as the premiere date is concerned, the producers will not split Season 8 into two parts, and instead would air all the 13 promised episodes uninterruptedly.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Peter Capaldi will portray The Doctor for this season, while Jenna Coleman will play the role of his companion, Clara Oswald.

Sometime midway through the series, writer and showrunner Steven Moffat is expected to introduce a new returning friendly character and occasional companion, Danny Pink, to be portrayed by Samuel Anderson. Screen Rant reports that like Clara, Danny Pink will also be a teacher at the Coal Hill School, but further than that his role is unclear.

The first episode of "Doctor Who," set in Victorian London, is written by Moffat and directed by Ben Wheatley. Capaldi, the Doctor, will appear to be older, more ferocious as well as complicated. Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor, will appear in a cameo role. The characters that will return to the show this season include the Paternoster Gang, Jack the Ripper and Clockwork Droids.

It has also been revealed that the third episode will have a Robin Hood theme. While Tom Riley will play Robin Hood and Ben Miller will portray the Sheriff of Nottingham. It is being rumored that robot knights will be featured in the episode penned by Mark Gatiss and directed by Paul Murphy.