Series 13 (Doctor Who)

Series 13 is an upcoming series of Doctor Who. Chris Chibnall remained as executive producer, whilst Jodie Whittaker confirmed she was returning as the Thirteenth Doctor.

Unusually, the series was announced as being "in the works" by Chibnall on 21 November 2019, a little over a month before the previous series began airing.

Also unusual, the series was reduced to a number of 8 episodes total as a result of the ongoing worldwide threat of the Coronavirus pandemic.

In May 2017, it was announced that due to the terms of a deal between BBC Worldwide and SMG Pictures in China, the company has first right of refusal on the purchase for the Chinese market of past and future series and spin-offs of the programme.

In October 2019, it was revealed that due to the show heading to HBO Max, the network had struck a deal for additional series of the programme.

Whittaker briefly mentioned her return in Doctor Who Magazine on 9 December 2019, a little under a month before series 12. She later spoke about it publicly to Entertainment Weekly on 22 January 2020.

It continued the ongoing storyline surrounding the Doctor's past and the Timeless Child.

Storyline continuation
According to Chris Chibnall, the previous series finale Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children laid the groundworks of the storylines throughout this series.

On 8 October 2020 at the live-streamed New York Comic-Con panel, Mandip Gill revealed that series 13 would delve deeper into Yasmin Khan’s past and touch on “mental health issues”.

On 5 December 2020, Gill told Radio Times that while her co-stars, Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole, felt ready to leave during the preceeding New Year Special Revolution of the Daleks, she was not ready to leave the TARDIS behind, saying there's still more to explore about Yaz's past and "mental health".

On 1 January 2021, following the broadcast of Cole and Walsh's final scenes, comedian John Bishop was officially announced in a teaser trailer as playing incoming companion, Dan.

COVID-19
On 31 March 2020 it was reported by Radio Times that due to a lucky break in filming, Doctor Who might have dodged a bullet and inadvertently gone around the whole Lockdown crisis that other production have suffered, and therefore escaped the COVID-19 virus altogether.

On 18 June 2020 it was, however, reported by The Mirror that Director of BBC Wales Rhodri Talfan Davies had said that the show would not be continuing filming during current social distancing rules.

On 11 September 2020 it was further reported by the Metro Entertainment that due to a spike in COVID-19 dangers, that Series 13 could potentially be delayed until 2022 due to the virus possibly hindering the show from being filmed.

That very same day, Radio Times reported that this might not necessarily be truthful as filming was set to begin “soon”, noting that little is known about what this social distancing rules would mean for the series or the number of episodes.

On 11 November, Chris Chibnall stated to The Mirror that this series had had to bow to the COVID virus and thus been reduced to eight episodes, having said: “In this strangest of years, the Doctor Who production team have worked wonders to get the show back into production. Given the complexity of making Doctor Who, and with new and rigorous Covid working protocols, it’s going to take us a little longer to film each episode, meaning we expect to end up with eight episodes, rather than the usual 11.”

in an interview with Radio Times on 28 November, Chibnall opened up a bit more about the struggles of making the show during a global pandemic while trying to avoid fans thinking about the pandemic while watching the series, saying: “Basically, for the past six months we’ve been going, ‘How do we make Doctor Who in the middle of a pandemic? We had to re-interrogate absolutely everything. We couldn’t do Spyfall this year. We won’t be able to do overseas filming. Editorially, production-wise, logistically, health and safety-wise, it’s had a massive impact. But where we are is incredibly exciting. As much as possible at the moment everybody’s smiling, and we’ve got some really lovely, great, mad scary ideas.” while producer Matt Strevens reassured fans that the quality of the series would not be affected, saying: “The biggest thing is that when series 13 finally does air, whenever that is, we never want people to watch it under the caveat of Covid, going, ‘Ah, well, but they made this during the pandemic.’ We want to make sure that when you watch it, it’s – no pun intended - timeless, and feels as exciting and as high-end as we’ve tried to make the series since we took over. That was the driving impulse behind looking at the narratives and reducing the number of episodes slightly: we want to make sure we can give people the biggest production values possible.”

Promotion
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Broadcast
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
 * Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill


 * Dan - John Bishop

Recurring
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Guest

 * Mary Seacole - Sara Powell

Production
Tracie Simpson announced at a Gallifrey One convention on 15 February 2020 that pre-production on the series would begin in June the same year.

Producers
In an interview with Television Magazine in June 2017, Chibnall promised that his run would be "bold" and "risky". . (Contrary to common belief, he made no mention of a five-year plan, but his friend, James Strong indicated his belief that the position was a five year project. ) This plan involved the revelation of the Timeless Child, given at the end of series 12.

Director
Jamie Magnus Stone will return to direct at least one filming block from this series along with Director of photography Robin Whenary.

Azhur Saleem will be directing 3 episodes of the series.

Writers
Maxine Alderton was confirmed as a "core writer" for the series.

Ed Hime is writing an episode of the series.

Filming
Tracie Simpson announced at the Gallifrey One convention on 15 February 2020 that filming would begin in September the same year. This turned out not to be the case due to cases of COVID-19 rising again during early Autumn.

Filming officially began on 2 November 2020 at Roath Lock Studios.

Filming on location first began on 13 and 16 November at Morlais Quarry, Methyr Tydfil in South Wales.

Filming continued on 26 November at The Parade in Cardiff, Wales.

Filming then went on to the streets of Cardiff, Wales on 7 December.

Filming then continued on 8 December in Neptune Court on Vanguard Way in Penarth, Cardiff.

Aliens and enemies

 * Sontarans
 * Weeping Angels

Rumours

 * One of the stories is set during the Crimean War.
 * Episode 4 features pumpkins as set dressing, suggesting a possible Halloween episode. Perhaps of interest, if series 13 followed previous series in airing on Sundays, and was broadcast in autumn 2021, an episode would indeed air on 31 October 2021.

Home media
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Novels
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