Raise your hand if this makes you happy:

Recently, the BBC announced the writers for the Spring 2013 half of Series 7 and one name on that list was none other than Neil Gaiman, who won a Hugo Award for his Series 6 episode, “The Doctor’s Wife.” That in itself would be enough to get us excited, but it was this morning announced (via BBC America) that Gaiman’s episode will see the return of longtime villains and silver enthusiasts, the Cybermen!

I love the Cybermen, more than the Daleks and maybe more than the Master, but I feel as though the new series has yet been unable to capture what made them so scary during the classic series. They debuted in 1966 in “The Tenth Planet,” the story which saw the very first regeneration. Gaiman is a confirmed Second Doctor fan (who wouldn’t be?), as evidenced by some of the references used in “The Doctor’s Wife,” and, as the Cybermen were Doctor Number Two’s most persistent foe, I foresee a return to the type of Cybermen characterization (more scheming, less marching) of stories like “The Moonbase,” “The Tomb of the Cybermen,” and “The Invasion.”

Gaiman’s episode, which has yet to have its title revealed, will co-star Warwick Davis, Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders) and Jason Watkins (Being Human) who will play “a band of misfits on a mysterious planet” alongside Matt Smith and new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman.

BBC America writes:

Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, told us, ‘Cybermen were always the monsters that scared me the most! Not just because they were an awesome military force, but because sometimes they could be sleek and silver and right behind you without you even knowing.’ He added, ‘And with one of the all-time classic monsters returning, and a script from one of our finest novelists, it’s no surprise we have attracted such stellar names as Tamzin, Jason and Warwick.’

No word yet on an airdate for Series 7’s final eight episodes, but Gaiman’s episode is currently slotted in the penultimate spot, before Moffat’s finale. That’ll make three series in a row where Cybermen feature heavily in the second-to-last episode. Hmmm…

-Kanderson’s TWITTER