Series 12 (Doctor Who)

Series 12 of Doctor Who premiered on Wednesday 1 January 2020. Chris Chibnall remained in the position of executive producer whilst Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill and Bradley Walsh reprised their roles as the Thirteenth Doctor, Ryan Sinclair, Yasmin Khan and Graham O'Brien respectively.

In April 2015, Steven Moffat confirmed that Doctor Who would run for at least another five years, extending the show until 2020.

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.

Whittaker announced her own return on Friday 7 December 2018, two days prior to the broadcast of the series 11 finale, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. The series was announced almost immediately after the conclusion of said episode.

Return to familiarity
As a huge difference from the complete reinvention from series 11, series 12 would return to more familiar ground, apparently hearkening back to the Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat eras.

Series 12 would go back to being "darker and scarier" in an attempt to stray from the lighter and more informative tone of the previous series.

This series saw the Doctor go in a direction that has never been seen before on the show, also delving deeper into this Doctor's personality, showing a new side to her.

This series also delved deeper into the companions' lives and went into the Doctor's past.

Actress Dominique Maher recorded ADR (additional dialogue replacement) for her character in an Australian accent.

After having disappeared from series 11, having been replaced by a New Year Special, the Christmas Special returned for series 12.

Series 12 brought back two-parters, after they had disappeared from the previous series.

Spyfall, the opening story of the series, was the first time since 2010's The End of Time that a two-parter didn't receive individual titles.

As was done between series 8 and series 9, this series also saw some changes to the TARDIS compared to the previous series, in the form of a new crystalline column hanging from the ceiling just above the crystalline time rotor and a set a hexagon-filled gold stairs to an upper level that leads to the rest of the ship.

Returning foes
Series 12 re-introduced the Judoon, giving them a central role in a television story for the first time since the series 6 mid-series finale A Good Man Goes to War in 2011.

The Cybermen also made their way back onto the small screen this series, in their first TV appearance since 2017 story The Doctor Falls (discounting archival footage in Twice Upon a Time) in a way that would inspire Mary Shelley to create Frankenstein.

The Daleks also made their way back, in their bronze design, albeit with a new black Dalek casing design introduced for one of them.

Promotion
On 31 October 2019 the BBC released the first proper promotion of the coming series 12, in the form of a poster showing a shadow of the Thirteenth Doctor cast in the yellow light from the open TARDIS doors in the bottom corner. A faded rainbow appears across her chest, and the tagline says "Watch this Space".

On 10 November, the BBC released a promo teaser for the new series on the Official Doctor Who YouTube Channel, with the camera zooming fast through a purple vortex to a region of space in which the TARDIS suddenly appears and zooms across, revealing first the tagline "Watch this Space" then the "Doctor Who" logo and the text "Coming Soon". The "Doctor Who" page itself said "Make Space... 23/11/19".

At a Q&A session held at Sheffield Hallam University on 19 November, Chibnall told the audience that the opening story would be "the biggest episode in the show’s history". A BBC One source to The Mirror said that "It’s going to be huge. The scale is just epic. No one will be disappointed." Whittaker added that "I feel like we’re treading new ground for each of the character journeys, and the development of everybody’s storylines."

On 21 November the "Doctor Who" page posted a new poster, this time showing the entire main cast on a white background at the top and a region of space at the bottom. The poster said "Space. For All." as well as "Coming Soon".

On 22 November the "Doctor Who" page posted a "Trailer Preview" video showing the 3 companions inside the TARDIS, nodding, to which the Doctor pulled a lever on the console. The preview then said "Trailer Premiere Saturday" with the page itself posting the time and the hashtag for Doctor Who Day.

On 23 November the first official trailer for Series 12 was released on the Official Doctor Who YouTube Channel and on the "Doctor Who" page. It showed a lot of new and returning creatures and historical people as well as time periods.

On 2 December the second official trailer for Series 12 was released on the YouTube channel and the official page. It followed up on what was shown in the first trailer as well as showing new content. It ended with a repeat of "Watch this Space" from the teaser trailer and was followed by the release date, "New Year's Day".

On the same day they re-released the second promo poster but with a slight alteration: instead of "Coming Soon", the text below reads "New Year's Day". The Doctor's companions are also not present in this poster variant.

On 6 December, while promoting Fathom Events, the Doctor Who page repeated clips from the second trailer for the series.

On the same day they released a "first look" at Episode 1 on their YouTube channel and on the Doctor Who page. It revealed an "impossible" mission for the Doctor and friends.

Broadcast
Regular episodes, apart from Spyfall: Part One, continued airing on Sundays, following on from the schedule established with series 11.

On Sunday 5 January Fathom Events played host to a special screening of the premiere episode Spyfall as well as showing an early unveiling of the following episode.

BBC America aired all full series and specials of New Who during the week between 24 December and 1 January in preparation for series 12. The network also aired animated "lost episodes" as an extra.

Cast

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

Recurring

 * Sonya Khan - Bhavnisha Parmar
 * TBA - Maxim Baldry

Guest

 * Voice of the Judoon - Nicholas Briggs
 * Judoon Captain - Paul Kasey
 * Suki Cheng - Molly Harris
 * Marcia - Julia Foster
 * TBA - Jordan Ring
 * TBA - Neil Stuke
 * Ruth Clayton - Jo Martin
 * "Barista" - TBA
 * Queen Skithra - Anjli Mohindra
 * Noor Inayat Khan - Aurora Marion
 * Nevi - James Buckley
 * Mary Shelley - TBA
 * TBA - Stephen Fry
 * TBA - Sir Lenny Henry
 * "All Ears Allan" - Michael Begley
 * TBA - Jacob Collins Levy
 * Foreman - Shaun Mason
 * Seesay - Darron Meyer
 * Vorm - Will Austin
 * Agent Browning - Dominique Maher
 * Sergeant Murphy Docherty - Caolán Byrne
 * Franklin - James Rockey
 * Thomas Edison - Robert Glenister
 * Nikola Tesla - Goran Višnjić
 * TBA - Sacharissa Claxton

Production
It was originally reported that pre-production on series 12 had begun in November 2018, with Ray Holman having updated his CV to say so. Furthermore it was said that filming would begin in January 2019.

Chris Chibnall's initial statement on the twelfth series was "We're off again! Well we never actually stopped - as Jodie Whittaker's Doctor and friends have been winning the hearts of families across the nation this autumn, we've been busy with a whole new set of action-packed adventures for the Thirteenth Doctor. We adore making this show and have been blown away by the response from audiences, so we can't wait to bring more scares, more monsters and more Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole to BBC One. Brilliant!"

Charlotte Moore, Director of Content added, "We're delighted that the Doctor and her friends will be returning to thrill audiences in 2020. I know Chris and the whole team are already working on a whole new set of exciting adventures."

Chris Chibnall released an official statement, saying: “We’re thrilled that Doctor Who continues to attract some of the most the most exciting and dynamic talent working in television. Along with our returning faces, we’re excited to welcome new members to the Doctor Who family. The Doctor Who team is crammed with British television’s brightest writers and directors: we’ve adored working with them, and can’t wait to show you the explosive stuff they’ve created!"

Producers
Tash Montlake was one of the production assistants.

Stefan Morris was one of the producers.

Alex Mercer produced the Christmas Special.

Dafydd Shurmer, the previous series' art director, took over the position of production designer after Arwel Wyn Jones left.

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".

Writers
Headwriter Chris Chibnall wrote four episodes for the series. Two of them were the opener and the finale.

Ed Hime, Vinay Patel and Pete McTighe, who all wrote for series 11, will return to each pen another script for this series. Nina Métivier, who served as script editor on series 11, will be penning a story for this series. New writers will include Maxine Alderton and Charlene James.

Sheena Bucktowonsing served as script editor on the series.

(Alderton was also confirmed as "core writer" for Series 13 )

Directors
Jamie Stone directed Block 1, consisting of episodes 1 and 5, as well as Block 5, consisting of 9 and 10. Lee Haven Jones directed Block 2, consisting of episodes 2 and 3. Nida Manzoor directed Block 3, consisting of episodes 4 and 6. Emma Sullivan directed Block 4, consisting of episodes 7 and 8.

Lee Haven Jones also directed the Christmas Special.

One director of photography this series was Ed Moore.

Caroline Pope was choreographer and movement director.

Filming
Location filming on series 12 began on 23 January 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.
 * Shortly before series 12 began filming, Bradley Walsh revealed that he was in South Africa, and the rest of the main cast were spotted on a flight to Cape Town.

Filming in "SA" ended on 7 February very early in the morning at Bowmans on Bree Street. Location filming also took place at Kogel Bay in Western Cape, Kersefontein Guest Farm in Hopefield, Table Mountain and the Taal Monument.

Filming then took place in Cardiff on 10 February which ended in the morning on 11 February.

Filming also took place at Guildhall in Swansea, Wales on 18 February and 19 February. The place had been set-dressed as Secret Intelligence Service with a sign that says Cyber Security Department.

Filming returned to "Sheffield" outside Cardiff Central Police Station, having been set-dressed as Hallamshire Police, on 11 March.

Filming took place in Porthkerry Country Park in Barry on 14, 15 and 26 March.

Another shoot took place in Cory's Building on Bute Street in Cardiff, Wales on 18 March which ended very early in the morning on 19 March. Following that filming took place on the street in front of Glamorgan Building at Cardiff University set dressed as Nazi-occupied Paris, which lasted to 20 March.

Filming once again took place on Barry Island in an old railway tunnel on 27 March.

Filming then took place at a Ministry of Defence unit in St. Athan, Wales on 28 March.

Cast and crew went to Tenerife on 1 April to start filming on 2 and 3 April around Montaña Samara near Mount Teide. On 5 April they went to Santa Cruz to film in front of the Auditorio de Tenerife.

Filming returned to Roath Lock Studios from 8 to 10 April. Filming, however, quickly went to Barry Island once again on 11 April.

Filming took place at Howell's School in Llandaff from 15 to 19 April.

From 29 April to 2 May filming took place at Tredegar House in the New Parlour, Side Hall and Morning Room.

Filming returned to Bute Street for filming yet again in Cory's Building from 6 to 10 May.

In mid- to late-May filming took place at a New York City set at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria.

Filming took place inside the Gloucester Cathedral on 22 and 23 May. On the latter day producer Nikki Wilson took two Judoon actors aside to Berkeley Street to do special-effects shoots in front of a green screen.

Filming took place in The Little Man Coffee Company on Bridge Street in Cardiff on 29 May.

On the 30 May, filming took place in Cardiff Bay and at the banks by the nearby canal.

Filming took place at Merthyr Mawr Estate in Bridgend, Wales on 28 June and 1 to 3 July.

Filming took place on Pomeroy Street in the Butetown section of Cardiff on 23 July.

Filming then took place on Spencer Street in Cardiff on 5 August.

Filming took place at Nash Point in Wales on 20, 21 and 22 August.

Filming took place at Tyndall Street near Lumis Student Living in Cardiff on 2 October. Filming continued on 5 October. On 9 October filming took place adjacent to that location at Capital Quarter. At some point in early October, filming took place at Canada Lodge and Lake.

Filming took place on Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol on 22 and 23 October.

On the 25 October, the cast and crew held a Halloween-styled wrap party to celebrate that filming was nearing its end.

On the nights of 29 and 30 October, filming took place inside Cardiff Castle, on the corner of Wharton and St Mary's Street in Cardiff and at Maindy Barracks. Filming also happened at Capitol Shopping Centre on Churchill Way and wrapped up on the night of 30 October and early morning of 31 October.

In mid-November, filming took place at Smallwood Primary School in London.

Filming wrapped up completely on 19 November 2019, adding a short Wrap Up-video to prove it.

Myths

 * Although now debunked, Starburst Magazine had reportedly been in contact with the BBC back in November 2018, during which time, the BBC said that series 12 would air in Autumn 2019. Starburst also claimed that Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker had not been very happy behind the scenes, and were set to leave after series 12 had finished.
 * Rumours of Chibnall leaving gained momentum once again in August 2019 when a random tweet said that he called it quits in the middle of filming, which everyone quickly caught on to. This was later debunked as "nonsense" by BBC insiders, who went on to reference similar rumours of the past.

Episode notes

 * Jodie Whittaker said on The Graham Norton Show that while filming in South Africa, she was let into contact with a Sac Spider, which are extremely dangerous and venomous. She let it crawl around on her inside her costume, unbeknownst to the fact that she 'could have died', she said.

Aliens and enemies

 * Judoon
 * Cybermen
 * Daleks
 * Wizard-like character
 * Queen Skithra
 * Dimensional ghostly creature
 * Giant blue creature
 * Vicious beast
 * Bat-like creatures
 * Scorpion-like creatures
 * Pyrotechnicians

Rumours

 * In an article on the Daily Mail by Nicola Methven, she quotes a "show insider" as saying: "Last season, the theme was empowerment for women, mirroring what was happening elsewhere in the world. This time there will be an effort to get behind the message that what we’re doing is killing our planet. Kids are really involved in these environmental issues so it’s a perfect fit for Doctor Who."
 * A past alien love interest could be introduced.
 * South Africa filming is possibly for episode 1 and 5, comprising Block 1, directed by Jamie Stone.
 * Rose Tyler could be making a return.
 * Yasmin Khan's police career at the Hallamshire Police could be explored more deeply.
 * Some baddies from the classic era could return.
 * A romance could be developing between the Doctor and Yaz.
 * John Simm's version of could return as various "Vote Saxon" signs pop up in Cardiff Bay. The Daily Star further noted that there had been "talks" to have the Master return (though not which version)
 * Sacha Dhawan is rumoured to star as a new incarnation of the Master.
 * According to a German magazine, the Korean pop band Bangtan Boys will appear in this series.
 * The Autons could make a return.
 * Petronella Osgood could make a return.
 * Kate Stewart could make a return.
 * The Sea Devils could return.
 * Nicholas Briggs is listed as the voice of the Cybermen
 * Possible cast members are Ronan Summers as Rendition Man, Andrew Burford as Heavy , Matthew Rohman as a Sea Devil and a Judoon, Richard Price as a Judoon.
 * Adam Basil is listed on IMDb as stunt double for Stephen Fry.
 * Series 12 could possibly be Bradley Walsh's last as Graham O'Brien.
 * Gwyneth Keyworth is rumoured to appear.
 * There could be a series arc this series (possibly the Timeless Child).

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