Series 13 (Doctor Who)

Series 13 is an upcoming series of Doctor Who. Chris Chibnall remains as executive producer, whilst Jodie Whittaker has confirmed she is 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.

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”.

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.”

Promotion
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Broadcast
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
 * Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
 * Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill

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 revealed a "five-year plan" for his reign as showrunner and promised that it would be "bold" and "risky". This plan involved the revelation of the Timeless Child, given at the end of series 12.

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

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

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.

Aliens and enemies
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Rumours

 * Tosin Cole might not return as Ryan Sinclair this series.
 * Ed Hime is writing an episode of the series.

Home media
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Novels
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