Series 11 (Doctor Who)

Series 11 of Doctor Who will premiere "by October" 2018, helmed by new showrunner Chris Chibnall. It will also star Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, the first woman to take the role, following Peter Capaldi's regeneration in series 10. Chibnall revealed, "I always knew I wanted the 13th Doctor to be a woman, and we're thrilled to have secured our number one choice." Prior to Jodie's reveal, bets on who would be the next Doctor were hype, with names like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kris Marshall among fan favourites.

Whittaker, herself, stated, "I'm beyond excited to begin this epic journey … It's more than an honour to play the Doctor [...] It feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you're told you can and can't be."

Peter Capaldi, Whittaker's predecessor, has full confidence that "she's going to be a fantastic Doctor". "Anyone who has seen Jodie Whittaker's work will know that she is a wonderful actress of great individuality and charm. She has above all the huge heart to play this most special part." Capaldi had previously expressed that he wants the next actor to take the role to finally be a woman.

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Whittaker stated that the new incarnation will not fundamentally change the character of the Doctor, saying: "It's a brand new body, and the body happens to be female."

In an interview with Rolling Stone on 5 September 2017, Whittaker said that: "As a young girl, I did not think that 'Time Lord' would ever be on my CV." and went on to discuss genders: "I’m playing an alien and gender is not a part of that. A moment like this of being the first woman cast as something, it makes you really think about your sex, whereas actually what you want to do is play a part where your gender is irrelevant. I am a woman, so I don't need to play that. And so for me, this was the most freeing experience because there's no right or wrong way to do it. The rules went out the window."

On 22 October 2017, it was revealed that Whittaker would be joined by Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole in the TARDIS, as well as Sharon D Clarke joining the show as a "returning role". The BBC said in a statement: "New head writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall, who made the decision to cast the first ever woman in the iconic role, is also shaking up who will travel with the Doctor in [the TARDIS], with a team of new characters", at the same time also confirming that the new series will run through 10 weeks, with 50 minutes each episode and kicking off with a feature length opener.

Series 11 will also mark the switch of special effects team with Milk VFX's last duties being on the preceding Christmas special Twice Upon a Time, handing over the job to Double Negative, whose previous work can be found on Blade Runner 2049, Interstellar, Inception, with more. On the 20 July the company themselves, rebranded as DNEG, announced that they were taking over VFX duties.

A teaser was released on 21 February 2018, the new logo was designed by the LittleHawk agency following Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens' directions while the music and sound effects were done by Matthew Herbert.

In early 2018, Murray Gold announced his departure from Doctor Who at the Gallifrey One convention, confirming that the 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon a Time, was his last episode. On the 26 June it was announced that The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire led by Segun Akinola would be composing the music for the new era, including a fresh new take on the legendary theme tune, to which Akinola said he was "thrilled" about.

On the 13 July the BBC released a 12 second soundless teaser showing off the new insignia cut into rock, followed by a black screen saying "The Universe is Calling", and then showing the new logo-teaser.

On the 15 July the BBC released a new teaser during the half-time of the football World Cup, which showed a brief introduction of the new companions, Ryan, Yasmin and Graham, and lastly the Doctor. The music of the trailer was composed by Jamie Salisbury.

On the 19 July, the official trailer for series 11 was revealed in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, along with the new sonic screwdriver.

During an interview at the Comic-Con on the 19 July, Chibnall stated that series 11 would be all standalone episodes.

Chibnall further confirmed that for the first time in New Who, the Daleks won't return for the entire series.

Sharmill Films has announced a cinema event for series 11.

Cast

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

Recurring

 * "Graham's wife" - Sharon D Clarke
 * Sonia - Asha Kingsley
 * Raymond Parkes - David Rubin
 * Fred Gray - Aki Omoshaybi
 * TBA - Ray Sesay
 * Mr Steele - Richard Lothian
 * Mud Witch - Marina Stoimenova
 * King James I - Alan Cumming
 * TBA - Lee Mack
 * The Warrior - Samuel Oatley
 * TBA - Shaun Dooley

Producers
Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens will co-executive produce. They were later joined by Sam Hoyle. Nikki Wilson will return as a producer. Alex Mercer will also be a producer.

Filming
Jodie Whittaker used the codename "The Clooney", a reference to George Clooney, when discussing her role.

On the 3 August it was announced that filming of Series 11 had officially wrapped.

Directing
Jamie Childs directed the trailer that revealed Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. He will also be directing the opening block for this series consisting of episodes 1 and 7, and will also direct episode 9 and 10. Sallie Aprahamian will direct the third filming block consisting of episode 4 and 6. Mark Tonderai will direct episodes 2 and 3. Jennifer Perrott will direct episodes 5 and 8. Wayne Yip will go to direct the Christmas Special.

Writing
Alongside Chris Chibnall, a variety of new names have been confirmed to pen the series. These are Malorie Blackman, who previously wrote an official Seventh Doctor tie-in novella, Ed Hime, Vinay Patel, Pete McTighe and Joy Wilkinson.

Aliens and enemies
to be added

Rumours

 * Anton Lesser may have been cast in series 11.
 * Series 11 could move to Sundays. It is further rumoured to come out on 23 September.
 * Series 11 could be released all in one go on BBC iPlayer.
 * Chris Chibnall will be bringing the show back to its original intention of being an educational show. Three episodes will be set in past, three episodes will be set in future and the rest will be set in present day.
 * One episode may focus around the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycotts.
 * Episode 1 will be called The Woman in Blue and will feature a cat.
 * The cat appearing in Series 11 will be called Percy.

DVD / Blu-ray
In the summer of 2018 — before and during the San Diego Comic-Con press junket — logged-in US Amazon Prime customers were given at least two release dates for both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of The Complete Eleventh Series. On at least 27 June, the US release date was said to be 27 August. By at least 20 July, that date was said to be 18 September.

Novels

 * to be added

Audiobooks

 * to be added