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.

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.

In late 2020, it was announced that the series run had been reduced to eight episodes total, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At San Diego Comic Con @ Home on 25 July 2021, it was announced that the format would change into a serialised season with all 8 episodes being one full story.

The series continued the ongoing storyline exploring 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 preceding 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.

Production during 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.

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

On 11 September 2020 it was claimed by the Metro Entertainment that due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, series 13 could potentially be moved to 2022 due to significant delays in principal photography as a result of the virus.

That same day, a conflicting report from Radio Times mentioned that filming was set to begin "soon", noting that little was known about what social distancing rules would mean for the series or the number of episodes.

On 11 November 2020, Chris Chibnall announced to The Mirror that the series run had indeed been impacted by the virus, and had been reduced to eight episodes. He stated: "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 the 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."

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."

On 25 July 2021, during the Comic Con @ Home, Chibnall announced that the series had undergone changes in format, giving it a storytelling style similar to Classic Who era, with it being a singular 8-part story throughout the entire season.

Promotion
Following the broadcast of Revolution of the Daleks on New Year's Day 2021 was a clip promoting this series featuring two men loading a truck while reading horoscopes. The horoscope in question read amongst others that "lucky number is 13, the colour blue will be important", the camera then pans to John Bishop and flashes a few brief clips of various sequences from the upcoming series. This new upcoming companion was later revealed to be named "Dan". Bishop himself said of the experience: ''If I could tell my younger self that one day I would be asked to step on board the TARDIS, I would never have believed it. ''

On 25 July 2021 San Diego Comic Con @ Home was held to promote the new series, with John Bishop, Mandip Gill, Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall, in which they talked about the changes made to the series along with what it was like to work on set during pandemic times and their favourite things about it, also each sharing a word to describe the series. The panel also introduced a special guest Jacob Anderson as recurring character Vinder. At the end of the panel, the Series 13 trailer was shown, and following that it was released on the Doctor Who YouTube Channel.

The BBC Doctor Who website also put up a “mystery” puzzle that had to be solved.

Broadcast
to be added

Cast

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


 * Dan Lewis - John Bishop

Recurring

 * Neville - Paul Broughton
 * Dan’s mother - Sue Murphy
 * Vinder - Jacob Anderson

Guest

 * Mary Seacole - Sara Powell
 * TBA - Annabel Scholey
 * Mrs. Hayward - Penelope McGhie
 * Diane Curtis - Nadia Albina
 * TBA - Kevin McNally

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 DOP Robin Whenary.

Azhur Saleem is directing episode 3, 5 and 6 of the season.

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

Ed Hime is also writing an episode of the series.

Pre-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.

Filming
Tracie Simpson announced at the Gallifrey One convention on 15 February 2020 that filming would begin in September the same year. This was, of course, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with spikes in cases and deaths at around this time.

Principal photography officially began on 2 November 2020 at Roath Lock Studios.

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

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

The production moved onto the streets of Cardiff on 7 December.

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

Filming resumed on 11 January 2021 on Cold Knap beach in Barry, Wales.

Filming continued on 21 January 2021 in Saint Hilary, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.

Filming went on to Barry Island at Friars Point House the night between 25 and 26 January.

Filming took place at Porthkerry Country Park in Barry, Wales on 17 February.

Filming then went on to the Ffresh Cabaret Bar inside the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 18 February.

Filming took place inside Cardiff City Hall on 8 March.

Filming then went on at Atlantic College in Llantwit Major, Wales in front of an old stone house located on the campus on 17 March.

Filming later took place at Kongs Cardiff and The Hayes, both located in Cardiff, on 18 March.

Filming took place at the Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool on 22 March.

Next, filming took place at the Museum of Liverpool on 23 March.

Filming then took place at the Church of St Luke and Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool on 24 March.

Filming moved to St George's Hall in Liverpool on 25 March.

Filming took place in Grangetown in Cardiff on 4 May.

Filming continued in Salisbury Avenue in Penarth, Wales on 13 May.

Filming took place at the A Bond warehouse at Cumberland Road in Bristol on 4 June.

Filming went to Sully Beach in Barry, Wales on 25 June.

Filming took place at Roath Lock Studios on 5, 6, 22, 23 and 26 July while filming took place again on Sully Beach on 15 July.

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.
 * Jodie Whittaker is rumoured to be leaving after this series, although the same rumours say Chris Chibnall would remain as showrunner.
 * Another rumour states that Whittaker will remain throughout the series but that it will, however, be followed by 2 specials in 2022 that will feature the Thirteenth Doctor’s regeneration into the Fourteenth Doctor.
 * On 21st June, an urgent casting call of people of Chinese descent for an “exciting BBC programme” and a post on Facebook, seemingly quoting said casting call, calling for people to play sailors on Doctor Who, suggests a possible 19th century story featuring Chinese pirates. The episode may feature "Pirate Queen" Zheng Yi Sao.

Home media
to be added

Novels
to be added

Comics

 * "Doctor Who 2021 Event" (suspended until further notice )