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Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill return to Doctor Who in new Thirteenth Doctor adventures.

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill return to Doctor Who in new Thirteenth Doctor adventures.

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill

The Doctor and Yaz are off to see more of the universe in a new series of audio dramas from Big Finish.

Big Finish Productions, in partnership with BBC Studios, today announces a full series of Thirteenth Doctor audio dramas as Jodie Whittaker returns to the Whoniverse alongside Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan. 

First seen on screen in 2017, Jodie Whittaker made TV history as the first female incarnation of the beloved Time Lord in Doctor Who. 

Now she’s back in a brand-new series of twelve, hour-long, full-cast audio adventures in time and space, due to be released from July 2025. By her side in the TARDIS, as ever, will be her best friend Yaz, once again played by Mandip Gill.

Jodie Whittaker said:

“I’m over the moon to be joining Big Finish for more adventures in the TARDIS. Recording the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz is a really lovely thing to revisit. One of the things Mandip and I used to love on Doctor Who was getting in, doing a new episode and meeting a brand-new cast. I just can’t wait to step back into the boots, pull on the coat and get cracking. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be brilliant.”

Mandip Gill added:

“Doctor Who has been a huge part of my career and personal life and I am looking forward to seeing how I can further enrich my character through this exhilarating series. To be able to work with Jodie again is a dream come true, we have such a special friendship, I’m sure the recordings will be filled with laughter.”

Big Finish’s Chairman, Jason Haigh-Ellery said:

“This year Big Finish is celebrating its 25th anniversary of producing full-cast Doctor Who audio drama – so, when we were granted the licence to create new stories set during the Thirteenth Doctor’s era, we immediately set to work.

“I am delighted that the inimitable Jodie and Mandip have decided to return to their roles with us and I’m excited to welcome them to Big Finish. Alongside our two other forthcoming series for the Fugitive Doctor (played by Jo Martin) and the Master (played by Sacha Dhawan), 2025 has never looked brighter for the Thirteenth Doctor and her fam.”

Big Finish’s Creative Director, Nicholas Briggs added:

“Jodie and Mandip were so welcoming to me when I worked on set with them in the TV show, so I’m looking forward to repaying the compliment. They’re lovely people and they’re full of enthusiasm for this project.”

Doctor Who fans can now pre-order The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures at bigfinish.com.

Legend of The Sea Devils cast tease sword fights, serious conversations and “something big around the corner”

Legend of The Sea Devils cast tease sword fights, serious conversations and “something big around the corner”

In a swashbuckling special adventure, the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) come face to fin with one of the Doctor’s oldest adversaries: the Sea Devils. Why has legendary pirate queen Madam Ching come searching for a lost treasure? What terrifying forces lurk beneath the oceans of the nineteenth century? And did Yaz really have to dress Dan up as a pirate?

Legend of the Sea Devils is the second in a trio of specials airing in 2022. Jodie Whittaker’s final feature-length special will transmit in autumn 2022 as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations.

Legend of the Sea Devils airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday April 17.

Doctor Who Serientrailer: Legend of the Sea Devils


Q&A with Chris Chibnall


Where do we find our core cast at the beginning of this special?

This special sees the TARDIS crew landing in a coastal village in China, on the trail of the mystery of the treasure of the Flor de la Mar, which the Doctor has been meaning to find out about for a long time. When they get there, they discover some very strange events and a terrible evil being unleashed in this village!

What was your inspiration for this episode and how did you come to work together with Ella Road on this script?

We had been intending to do a piratey story during Flux and we didn’t manage to make it work for all sorts of reasons. So when it came to thinking about the final specials that was one of things I really wanted to revisit, to do a big, thrilling Bank Holiday romp of an adventure for Jodie’s penultimate story, featuring a warrior pirate queen. Ella (Road) then came to us with the idea of Madam Ching – this incredible character from history – and it all knitted together thanks to her.

Can you tell us a bit about the process of bringing the new guest actors on board?

We are always really lucky on Doctor Who as we have one of the best Casting Directors in the business in Andy Pryor. Andy’s great at keeping tabs on everyone and also uncovering great new, young talent as well. So when we were thinking about the story, I talked to him and gave him a heads up on the characters that we were thinking of. Usually the process is that Andy will put together a list, people who will tape and we’ll look at load of people so that’s how it went on this and we saw some amazing people.

Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils air date confirmed ...
The Doctor and Yaz in Doctor Who: “Legend of the Sea Devils”

Crystal (Yu) just absolutely shone out, and then we also Marlowe Chan-Reeves who plays Ying-Ki, I think this is his first television job and he’s an absolute star of the future. It’s something that happens all the time on Doctor Who, down to the genius of Andy Pryor and his team – they’re the unsung heroes of the series since 2005. They have cast every episode and this litany of incredible guest actors is absolutely down to them and their brilliance. The show owes that team a huge debt of gratitude.

Why did you decide to bring back the Sea Devils? Was it always planned? How did you go about bringing that vision to life with your team?

We didn’t start with Sea Devils at all, but the great thing about Doctor Who’s history is sometimes you can pull on all of that history and go, “Oh wait okay, the perfect monster has already been created, and is already in there!” So you can spend a long time thinking about creating or making a bespoke monster for this story, but actually, we thought, “If you add the Sea Devils in, this becomes really exciting” – they bring an extra layer of story, an extra layer of thrills and an extra layer of meaning for the fans. And so it wasn’t always in there but when we put them in and tried them out it really worked.

Then the question is whether you do a big redesign, as we did with the Silurians when I was working for Steven Moffat on Matt Smith’s first season. They were created by the same writer, Malcom Hulke, and are sort of cousin monsters! With the Sea Devils, it felt like there were ways that we could fit that original, brilliant and recognisable design into this story and have a bit of fun with it, pirate them up a little bit while also doing little bits of updating and augmenting – but fundamentally retaining the incredible design by John Friedlander.

So they’re very much his creation, and updated by Robert Allsopp and Ray Holman, our costume and monster designers. Then we were really lucky in that we had Craige Els, who played Karvanista in Flux, as the Chief Sea Devil. He’s a magnificent actor who is now beneath another mask– we still haven’t seen his real face in the main show! He does a brilliant performance and we knew we needed a really great actor – a great voice actor and a physical actor as well. What he brings is just gorgeous, as always.

Doctor Who: Who Are The Sea Devils?
The Sea Devils

What was added in after filming? They seem very true to the prosthetic that was created by Robert Allsopp.

It’s just things like expression, blinking of the eyes, they do a bit of snarling – just tiny little things to make sure that things come alive but they’re very much the monsters as you saw them previously.

There seems to be great anticipation about their return?

It’s the lovely thing you can do occasionally – there aren’t millions of Doctor Who monsters that you can bring back. But there’s a lovely affection for the Sea Devils, and they haven’t been used in the modern era. Also probably my earliest memory of Doctor Who and probably my earliest memories of being alive almost, is seeing them on the TV, so it was a nice thing to do in the penultimate story we were doing.

How does the relationship between Yaz and the Doctor develop further in this episode?

Dan has cottoned onto the dynamic between the Doctor and Yaz and from a distance, observed what they haven’t been admitting to themselves. I think really, in Eve of the Daleks, both Yaz and the Doctor have hinted that they have feelings that they are suppressing and keeping quiet about. So there are some conversations that need to be had and you’ll see those conversations developing and taking place in Legend of the Sea Devils. The Doctor and Yaz have something to talk about!

Madam Ching (Crystal Yu)

Would you say this is more of a standalone episode?

Yes, it’s a big standalone bank holiday action romp for all the family! A rollicking, swashbuckling adventure for the Doctor, Dan and Yaz with big monsters, big pirate ships, the sword fights, lots of fun, loads of action, lots of lovely jokes and a great, fun tone before we go into the big epic battle for survival with Jodie’s final episode.

This episode was of course filmed during strict COVID restrictions. What were some of the bigger challenges that you faced in making it happen?

It was a huge ask, and I didn’t know whether we could do it after the production team had pulled out all the stops for Flux. We knew it was a big deal to be able to transport the show back in time, around the world, onto ships and onto the seas. It’s just a testament to the whole production team from first to last – from pre-production to post production.

Daf Shurmer, our Production Designer, is an absolute legend himself and he did something that I think should have been impossible – and I think was impossible – and he achieved it. He’s just given us such scale with so many great sets that look amazing.

Haolu Wang, our brilliant director, and Mark Waters our Director of Photography, have shot it wonderfully with energy and love and fun, and the cast all got into that. And DNEG who do all our CG and visual effects have just delivered something really special. We’ve got sea monsters, we’ve got pirate ships, we’ve got the oceans, and we’re in an ancient coastal village!

As with every episode of Doctor Who, is it was a massive team effort. Everybody involved in the COVID procedures on Doctor Who whether it was testing everybody or sorting out the bubbles – we never had a day shut down due to COVID, it involved incredible work by the whole team. And the fact that I think Jodie Whittaker did not go out for almost a year, while she was working on her final series -she set such a great and responsible example, and put the show first.

For anyone who is coming to Doctor Who as a new viewer is this an easy one to step in and get on board with? What do you hope families take from it?

I think it’s definitely a great episode to come into. It’s got a lot of action, very heroic plot, lots of fun, big mad monsters, mad ideas, cinematic ambition, all that stuff and a great cast. We have a big, epic, rollicking, fun adventure for you whether you’ve never seen Doctor Who or you’ve seen every episode. And then for long term audiences and fans of the show there are loads of lovely little easter eggs and nods to the past so it’s absolutely got something for everyone.

Is it starting to feel a bit surreal now that your time on the series is coming to an end?

The workload is less so it’s lovely doing the post production on these last two specials because you’re not having to write and film at the same time. As showrunner, when you’re doing Doctor Who and you’re in the thick of it you’re doing three jobs at the same time. You’re writing for episodes down the line, you’re looking at all the filming that’s happening and you’re in the edit and post production on multiple episodes. So it’s really nice now that I don’t have any other episodes to think about.

I love the post production process, it’s one of my favourite bits because you’re just watching teams of geniuses produce great work! So it’s nice not to have the workload, it’s nice not to have the pressure of what’s coming up. I’m sort of combining having a break with finishing these episodes and working on other things so it’s lovely right now.


Q&A with Jodie Whittaker


Legend of the Sea Devils: TRAILER | Doctor Who - Epic ...
The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker)

What can audiences expect from this special?

We’re a few centuries off where the Doctor was aiming for and we stumble across a period in history that is a first for the Doctor Who universe. The TARDIS knows that it’s going to China so Yaz and the Doctor have prepared appropriately for it but Dan gets a bit of a bum steer and his costume is all wrong! It’s a Pirates of the Caribbean style sci-fi, action adventure that marries historical characters with Whovian characters with a really brilliant high octane Doctor Who adventure.

Did you enjoy stepping onto set – we heard the ship was impressive?

Yeah, it was amazing! The art department worked night and day to create a really extraordinary set and I think it’s the biggest one that we’ve worked on. We walked into an incredible pirate ship – it has so many different levels, it was really epic. It has so much depth and detail and also I think it was one boat that ended up being three different ones and in the episode, you can tell that the art department have worked so hard for that to go completely unnoticed.

How was it to find out the Sea Devils were coming back, with Craige Els as the Chief Sea Devil? How did they match up to other Doctor Who creatures you’ve come up against?

I was really pleased to be working with the Sea Devils! It’s always good to work with creatures from the Doctor Who universe. This is a hat trick for me now with Craige Els! Me and Craige were in a play called Antigone at the National with Chris Eccleston – now it’s a trio of Whovian cast. I spent the entire time with Craige saying “What did you say?” because of the mask! I think they were less familiar to me so it interesting to see Craigs Els’ interpretation because obviously he’s playing a very different kind of Sea Devil than we’ve seen before. Because of the costume and the restrictions of the mask it meant that Craige’s lines were recorded so that added complication to it but as far as the look of it, it looked great! I think an acting thing must have been incredibly challenging for Craige but once again he brought an incredible characterisation and smashed it.

How was it working with the brilliant guest actors?

On this episode we got to work with some really exciting cast. Crystal was absolutely brilliant. And also I think, Madam Ching as a character was such a great character. I think Crystal is an actress throws herself into things 100%. She’s amazing, as is Craig, Marlowe and Arthur (Lee) – we had a really contained cast. There was obviously more than that but for us it was a kind of ensemble feel as were together all of the time.

Crystal’s energy was brilliant – she was never tired – she was running around, jumping off things, swinging off things, fighting, memorising lots of lines and at no point does she ever stop smiling. She’s such a wonderful person to have on set and it was really was lovely. And I think the dynamic between her, Arthur and Marlowe was great too. What was lovely was that Marlowe was at the very beginning of his career and that’s always really exciting as well, to work with people that are starting out and Doctor Who plays a part in the start of their professional life as an actor. Working with our Director Haolu (Wang) was absolutely brilliant too, I loved getting to work with her for the first time – her energy and personality really shine through in this episode.

We heard Marlowe is a big fan of Doctor Who?

Marlowe is a Whovian and his knowledge of Doctor Who far surpassed mine! There was a scene where I couldn’t say one of my lines and it was a very specific scientific term. I just kept getting this word wrong and he would stand next to the camera and slightly mouth it to me as I did it. It really should have been roles reversed – I should have been helping him out because he has just started but he was always helping me out!

Can you tell us about your stunts/action scenes in this episode?

There was a scene where I needed to slide down the ship but the thing was the ship didn’t have a side on it, it was really high! The team’s issue was the fact that there was no other side so if I did topple over the other side it would have probably been quite a dramatic day at work, but I was absolutely adamant (to do it). When I did it was actually really controlled but I didn’t know if it looked as good as I really thought it was going to but I was really proud of it. With sword fighting I was really nervous as I had not done it since drama school and then when we ended up rehearsing it, it was just like choreographing a dance and as soon as it was like that I could do it and I really enjoyed it.

How was your new costume?

There wasn’t as many tweaks being made to it throughout filming – I didn’t get to hang out with my wonderful dresser Ian as much as I’d like to as once this costume was on it was on! What always seems to happen on Doctor Who is you wear a thick heavy material in summer and a thin t-shirt in winter, so I was really sweaty but that was not down to the look – I felt I looked a million dollars.

How does it feel as we get closer to the big centenary special?

It’s interesting because time wise, it’s such a long time off (before they air). What’s great about the standalone episodes are that if you do watch it now and then you watch another episode in autumn, you don’t need to rewatch it to understand what’s happening in the next one. They are great standalone individuals stories, that obviously marry all of my seasons together, build on relationships and things like that. But they are also these individual set pieces that can be dipped into and watched without the context of the rest of the show, which I think is really important. It shouldn’t exclude viewers and or may you feel like you need to go back and do homework to watch something!


Q&A with Mandip Gill


Doctor Who Legend of the Sea Devils pics see Yaz and Dan ...
Yaz (Mandip Gill)

What can audiences expect from this special?

It’s definitely one for the family. It’s got returning monsters in the Sea Devils and it’s got new characters! For a new audience, you’re able to relate to new characters, or if you’re watching it with your grandparents, you then get to see the return of the Sea Devils. It’s a really exciting story and it looks amazing. We have brilliant costumes and actors -it’s a little bit scary and a little dark in parts, but I think all that works if you’re going to be watching it as a family.

Where do we pick up at the start of this episode?

At the beginning of the episode, the TARDIS lands at a small coastal village but once again it’s landed where it’s not supposed to land. The Doctor promised Dan and Yaz that they’d be going to a beach somewhere exciting and they land on a beach, just not the beach that they expect. They get out, hear a massive scream and they realise that something very terrible is happening in this place.

How was it to film on this set?

It was a really epic ship that was built in the studios at the BBC. I saw Matt Strevens our Executive Producer in the hallway (before filming) and he was so excited for us to see it. It was brilliant, it was a huge ship so we didn’t have to cheat any of the places or any of the angles. It was all there for us – things worked and moved and Jodie was able to do her stunt scene on that actual set which is always so helpful. It was one of the few times we had the whole thing there to work with. It was really spacious too, it was built to get all of us on it and a crew. The attention to detail was brilliant and having seen the episode it looks amazing!

How was it for you working with the Sea Devils?

I thought the prosthetics were amazing. Also, we knew the Sea Devils were part of Doctor Who’s history so I’ve always found it really exciting to work with characters that have already been there previously like Cybermen, like Daleks – it always feels like it really cements our place in the world. And then to be up against something that has been around for so long, was also an honour. They were so tall and the attention to detail was just brilliant. Again, it was great to be working with something that’s there in front of you so to a degree don’t have to use your imagination. It’s all there!

Was it nice to have Craige Els back on set as the Chief Sea Devil?

It was brilliant! On set, you’re having these really natural conversations with a massive giant sea animal – we’re just casually having these normal conversations and having a laugh and I always wonder what it looks like from the outside looking in – he’s ever so tall so he’s not always on the same chairs as us either to protect his costume. So he’s sat a little bit higher, and I am having these really in depth conversations with this sea monster!

Can you tell us about working with the guest actors?

Every single time you get new guest actors you get new best mates. I had already worked with Crystal on Casualty, so we knew each other and that felt quite familiar. Arthur was absolutely brilliant, you could see him going away to work on his lines – I love watching everyone else’s acting techniques. Marlowe has done so well to be on a professional set and at young age and he’s so together. Also he’s a fan of the show and I love when people come in and they love the show. They want to be there as an actor, but they also love it and it’s something that they actually watch on the outside.

I’ve always liked that about our guest actors – I love that they love it for a multitude of reasons, not just because they get to work as an actor. As it was a pandemic there were very few guest actors on and they tended to stay a lot longer than they did in previous series – we spent a fair bit of time together in Cardiff and I got on really well with them and had such lovely conversations. Crystal has got a really gorgeous energy and I think she’s a brilliant actress, I think she was perfect for the part. Their costumes were great and we all did action sequences together which you don’t often get to do, they were all brilliant!

What was your experience of the sword fighting?

We didn’t do any training for the sword fighting but we rehearsed a sequence on the morning of it and because the set was really big, there was space to practice on the actual deck. You only see a little clip snippet of the whole work that we do after the edit but it was much harder than you think – the actual swords were a lot heavier than I expected! I was really into doing my own stunts before then and then I hurt my finger and I was like, “It’s not for me!”

John Bishop mentioned that the team missed a trick not having Dan do more stunts. I don’t know what you think about that?

I love how confident he is! To be honest, you think it’s going to be all fun and games and you want to do it all and are proper up for it. And then you do it and you realise that stunt people look so incredibly easy, because you have to go again and again and again! And so it’s all fun and games until you’re on the tenth take and you’re upside down again. But yeah, I guess I’ve had three years of being upside down and chased and whatnot.. John had one year but I mean, he probably wouldn’t say that after three series!

What would you say we can expect in this episode between the Doctor and Yaz? Will their feelings be addressed further?

So the relationship between the Doctor and Yaz has definitely developed further. There’s not an awful lot I can say about it but there’s a lot of bravery, there’s a lot of emotion and a lot of understanding, and openness. Conversations are not concluded in this episode, but they still definitely have advanced from where they were at the New Year’s episode. There’s a lot of open and honest conversations.

How does this episode set us up for the final special?

We definitely get a sense that something is coming because there always is something coming when the Doctor is around! Things have not been resolved by the end of the episode and I think that can be said for the relationship between Yaz and the Doctor but also the Doctor’s history and future.

Why should everyone tune in this Easter Sunday?

I think it’s a really jam packed, epic story. It looks amazing – you’ll see the hard work that went in from the crew and the cast during the pandemic. They’ve definitely excelled in terms of prosthetics makeup, costume and set design. Everything is just brilliant. It’s a standalone episode that has adventure, returning monsters, but also, ultimately and fundamentally there is a story of love at the centre of it all.


Q&A with John Bishop


Doctor Who Legend of the Sea Devils pics see Yaz and Dan ...
John Bishop (left) as Dan

What’s next in store for the trio on this adventure?

Well, this adventure involves monsters, someone dressed as a pirate, real pirates, an underlying love story, and it involves somebody finding something in themselves to make a commitment to another person to look after them. It has all of those things, and sword fighting, so I don’t think you could ask for more!

For this episode, we have the return of the Sea Devils, which everyone is very excited about. How did they compare to working with other Doctor Who monsters? Obviously we have Craige (Els) was back in a costume so you got to work with him again!

That was quite an interesting dynamic. Craige is great, but when he was Karvanista we were mates whereas with the Sea Devils it’s a bit of a different story – so it made the coffee breaks interesting! It was also, from a performance point of view and so on, really odd because they were physically threatening. In Doctor Who some of the monsters are not necessarily bigger than you are or physically different than you. Whereas with the Sea Devils…put it this way – if they walked into a pub, nobody is going to take them on!

Did you know much about them before filming or did anyone need to bring you up to speed on the history?

I knew a little bit about them and then Ray (Holman) our Costume Designer had a chat with me about their history, and how they’ve not been around for a while, so I knew what he had told me. Like all the elements of Doctor Who, the main actors are a small part of the fabric of what makes it work. The designers, the art department, the prosthetics, wardrobe and all those things make it work on the day and then afterwards, the post production, the music; all of those things make what you see so much better than what you’re doing on the day. And when you do it on the day and it’s good, you know it’s going to be brilliant on the telly because all of those bits get added.

You’ve got quite a striking pirate costume in this episode. How did that one come about?

It starts out a little joke between the characters – between Yaz and Dan – and then events take over and he never gets the chance to change!

Was there anything about the sets that really impressed you?

I’ll tell you what impressed me – having a ship! I just couldn’t believe it. It was a full ship built in the studio next door to the TARDIS. So we were filming a previous episode, and then you walk in next door and there’s a ship that has been built. It absolutely floored me, honest to God it staggered me – the workmanship and the level of detail in it. It literally blew me away.

There are some new guest actors in this episode. How was it welcoming them into the Doctor Who family?

It’s always good, particularly when they’re good actors! Crystal was familiar with Cardiff because obviously she has been in Casualty and when she was on set there she was thinking about what it was like in the Doctor Who studio – on the other side of the wall – so it was interesting to see it from that perspective. It was Marlowe’s first job and he was he was brilliant. Everyone wanted to look after him but he was just so accomplished, me and him were hanging upside down for half a day just having a laugh. Which is an odd way of getting to know someone!

How was your experience filming this special compared to others?

To get on the beach, on the coast, all of that setting and just being outside was good. But the main thing for me was just the ship, filming on the ship and just seeing the way it’s done. There’s a massive screen for all of the CGI and I’ve never seen anything like that before – it was just so impressive.

Is Dan still involved with the Doctor and Yaz in this episode in terms of the development of their relationship?

I think it was probably a surprise to both the Doctor and Yaz that it was so obvious to him that there was feelings between them. And I think as a character he is probably not the most obvious persons to be the matchmaker. Because he comes in as an ordinary bloke you would suspect is so bemused by the world that he’s in is too busy to absorb what’s going on around him to notice. But because the bond between them is so clear, and because I think as well as he says to Yaz in the New Year’s special – sometimes if you’ve got feelings for somebody you just have to act on them because otherwise if you don’t it will be too late.

Were you involved in any of the sword fighting for this episode?

I’ll be honest with you – I think they missed an opportunity because I was so desperate to do a few somersaults and swing on ropes – I really wanted to be a proper pirate! I got a bit done but if it was down to me I think there was a big likelihood that I wouldn’t have been in the show at all because I think I would have killed myself at some point. I was like a kid on the set, climbing up ropes and everything – the stunt coordinator kept going “Get off, get off!” There’s a bit of rope swinging a bit of sword fighting and all that. Because we knew it was a special and the way the story was we played it for fun – it was written to be big and bold and that’s what it was.

How does it set us up for the final special? Does it gives any clues about what to expect?

You know there’s something big about to happen. You can see the change in the Doctor and change in the dynamic and you just know there’s something big around the corner.

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill to appear in special New York Comic-Con Doctor Who panel

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill to appear in special New York Comic-Con Doctor Who panel

The TARDIS-travelling pair will be taking a look back at their last two years on the BBC sci-fi drama.

Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill in Doctor Who (BBC)

Missing all the Doctor Who chat ever since series 12 finished back in March? Well, you’re in luck – because it sounds like the press machine is lumbering back to life ahead of upcoming festive special Revolution of the Daleks, with Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill confirmed to be attending a special Doctor Who panel at the upcoming New York Comic-Con.

Hosted by moderator Melanie McFarland, the panel will apparently shine “a new spotlight” on Doctor Who as the pair “look back at their epic past two seasons in the TARDIS, which have been packed with shocking twists, turns and surprises,” and the whole thing is set to stream live online on Thursday 8th October at 2:45pm ET (that’s about 7:45PM UK time, if you’re wondering).

From the sounds of it, this panel will be resolutely focused on the duo’s Doctor Who past – quite pointedly, the event description says they’ll “discuss their favourite moments to date” – but with only a couple of months between the panel and the episode’s probable airing, it seems unlikely that the topic of Revolution of the Daleks can be skirted entirely.

That’s what we’re telling ourselves anyway, as we clutch our “Captain Jack Lives” banners and eagerly await the Dalek Civil War.

https://twitter.com/DoctorWho_BBCA/status/1303715736913948675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1303715736913948675%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.radiotimes.com%2Fnews%2Ftv%2F2020-09-09%2Fjodie-whittaker-mandip-gill-doctor-who-comic-con-panel%2F

And who knows? Maybe the fact that only Whittaker and Gill are in the line-up suggests that the rumours about co-stars Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole departing the series this winter weren’t greatly exaggerated after all. Or maybe their internet connections just aren’t good enough to join in with what (we assume) will be another virtual panel.

Still, even if Whittaker and Gill just keep it nostalgic, we’re sure fans will be delighted to see them reunited and chatting all things Who. We have to keep ourselves going until the festive special arrives somehow…

Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks comes to BBC One in late 2020/early 2021. 

Festive special will see the return of the Daleks

Festive special will see the return of the Daleks

With the fate of the Doctor seemingly hanging in the balance following the climactic ending to series 12, Doctor Who will next return to screens for a special in the upcoming festive season in an episode entitled Revolution Of The Daleks.

Following the latest series, which was packed full of shocking twists, turns and surprises, the one-off special will see the return of one of the Doctor’s biggest and most feared enemies – the Daleks.

Showrunner Chris Chibnall says:

“We can’t leave the Doctor there! On that cliffhanger! Well, we did. But rest assured, the Doctor and her friends will be back for a one-off extended special around Christmas and New Year. (I don’t know when they’re going to put it on yet, otherwise we’d tell you!). There will be Daleks. There will be exterminations. Thrills, laughter, tears. You know. The usual. See you at the end of the year.”

Charlotte Moore, Director BBC Content, says:

“I can’t wait for the Doctor to go into battle with the ultimate enemy in this year’s Daleks festive special.”

The Doctor is played by Jodie Whittaker, Ryan by Tosin Cole, Graham by Bradley Walsh and Yaz by Mandip Gill. All will be starring in the upcoming festive episode.

Interviews With The Stars Of Series 12

Interviews With The Stars Of Series 12

Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor)

How does it feel to be returning as The Doctor?

Really exciting. My series one (Series Eleven) was so full of excitement and nervousness for me because I was the first female, there’s a lot of noise around that. For yourself, you’re making these choices and you’re yet to know if they work or if it’s the direction you want to go in but you’re lucky with this job, it’s ten episodes per series so you get so much time to play. So to have a gap and then come back it feels liberating and exciting knowing that you can go in any direction.

How is it different for you this series compared to last year?

It’s only different in the sense that you know everyone, that’s the major difference. For us, we were lucky with our family in this, that our friendship outside of work was instant and constant. So returning, it’s like the siblings and the dad back together – that’s what it feels like. But then also with the crew it’s a really unique job, you spend a lot of time with each other and we’re all really good mates. There’s a lot of give and take in that, people are very forgiving if we’ve been on seven night shifts in a row. There’s support for everyone and I think everybody’s individual personality is allowed to have the space and freedom at work and I think that only comes from having history with people. I think that doesn’t happen often in a job.

Was there anything you approached differently this year coming back to it?

I didn’t approach anything differently in the sense I didn’t decide to work completely differently as an actor. But every new scenario is different, every new adventure is different, every new relationship with a character is different. The Doctor goes on a big journey throughout this series and that brings news things, so to hash out the same thing would be pointless and it’s not the role to do that because you’re not playing a human. You have the freedom to go in any direction, there’s no constraint or time period for social etiquette, we don’t have any of that. The only approach is be open.

Can you tell us a bit about the response you got last year?

Well I get a really filtered view of the response because I’m not on social media. Social media is sometimes the way we decide whether something is a popular choice or not. And if you’re not on it, you have no idea.

A lot of my mates watched it for the first time so that was a really exciting thing. I’ve got a lot of people in my life who are new Whovians so that’s really exciting knowing this world is open to them. So that’s amazing, you can have this show that’s been going for years and years and years but then there are new audiences to reach.

Do you get a response when you go to the shops?

Yeah I do. I think with this show you’re continually surprised with who watches it, there’s not an obvious demographic. You know something like Attack The Block, if I was kicking about after school time I would feel like a legend for about ten minutes if I walked past at the right time. But I think with Doctor Who it really surprises you, it really curveballs you sometimes the people that it touches and reaches. Because it’s a BBC show, it’s worldwide, it goes out to so many different continents and I think for me it’s surprising you can go to places you think no one will know you and they do.

This time around, there are some amazing guest artists, what was it like working with Stephen and Lenny?

I’ve worked with Lenny before so that was really lovely and in a completely different capacity – we were filming in South Africa so it was like we were all on holiday together so that was incredible and lovely. And anyone who knows him knows he’s famously absolutely lovely and brilliant, and a great energy to have on set, he’s amazing.

Stephen Fry I really fangirled over – I had met him before but I didn’t think he’d remember – we were both in St Trinians. I’m really in awe of someone who can offer themselves up to the world in a brutally honest and unapologetically intelligent and forward thinking way. I think we should celebrate brains like that. For anyone who considers themselves to be interested in learning, just some of his vocabulary was beautiful but not excluding. I think he’s an inclusive thinker and I think for Doctor Who that’s perfect but for me to be around him at 37, I was really in awe. I was just beyond excited to work with him and he was lovely and everything you’d want him to be. He’s great, for everything he’s done and does, if you’re ever going to join social media which I will never, do it as a contributor like him.

Have you done any stunts this year?

Yeah there’s a motorbike! I’m not qualified to ride a motorbike so we were on a truck – looks cool though. There’s a lot of jumping, clinging on for dear life, there’s a lot of action so you should be excited for that.

Can you tell us about the terrifying monsters?

I was actually really scared when I saw one of them, I bricked it. I proper bricked it. In rehearsal, he’s like six foot seven, in a suit and he’s running at you down a corridor and I was screaming. He’s called Spencer, he’s one of the Darth Vaders, and he’s a bit of a legend on set. [laughs]

Is it strange when you see people on set in prosthetics?

Yes, Brad can you tell this but what was funny, Brad had worked with someone, he went: “Lovely to meet you darling”, and she was like “It’s me!” He had no idea it was her. Once I was chatting away with someone and they went: “Just so you know my ears are covered and I can’t hear a thing”, so they missed all my jokes (laughs). The make-up and costume department and the prosthetic department are another level.

And the return of the Judoon, what was it like working with them?

That was amazing, they’re massive. It’s weird the mouth moves and a voice comes from a person way over the other side of the set. It was brilliant, for me it was my first interaction with the Judoon.

What has been your highlight about being The Doctor so far?

The highlight for me is being in something that reaches such a wide range of people and emotionally touches those people in ways you can’t even imagine. I think I didn’t realise what Doctor Who was for so many people and I find it really moving. I think our heroes in life come in all different forms, but to play someone who celebrates inclusivity and the fact that we don’t know the answers but that’s okay. And The Doctor can be anyone, so to be able to do that and play this role the way I wanted to play it, ten year old me didn’t think this would happen, you know it’s massive. Being the first female Doctor, it’s what dreams are made of really, especially growing up as an actor who wanted to play pretend.

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Epic, emotional, rollercoaster.


Bradley Walsh (Graham)

How does it feel to be going into your second year?

I’m excited! I can’t wait to see the gang back together, I’m really looking forward to it. I think this year is going to be crashbang… it is going to be fantastic.

Has anything changed for you going into the second year?

No, actually it was slightly easier as I knew what to expect. I was really looking forward to as I say getting back with the gang, and our leader, Jodie. Jodie is for me the benchmark of professionalism so I was really looking forward to getting back on track with the guys for this series.

How are things going to be different for Graham?

We haven’t got the Grace scenario now so the question is has he got over his grief? We will just have to wait and see.

Are we going to see a change of dynamic between The Doctor and her friends?

I would say yes and the reason I say yes is because we don’t stick together the whole time. I think The Doctor will start delegating more now and I think that will slightly change the dynamic.

What’s the relationship between Ryan and Graham this year, are they going to be closer?

I think it is on the cards because as we saw at the end of last season, when Ryan’s dad was part of the show, he then went off as he didn’t want to come with us. So I am sort of taking his place more now, I’m sort of being Ryan’s father figure more.

There are some amazing guest artists, what’s been your highlight about working with them?

I have been very lucky in my career to be able to work with a lot of different people but strangely enough, although I have worked with Robert Glenister many times, I haven’t worked with Lenny Henry and I haven’t worked with Stephen Fry or Goran Višnjić so to work with those as well and see them work has been great. And I was thrilled to see Lenny and work with Lenny, I really was.

What was your highlight from last year?

I think my highlight from last year was my first day on the set, I thought that was great. My first day was just amazing and I thought: “Wow, this is going to be really cool,” and it was. Then strangely enough, everything in between was great but then the last episode we did, with Jamie Childs directing, which was where we were blowing up stuff and was yippee ki yay sort of stuff, I really quite enjoyed that. I felt a bit of an action hero and I quite liked it!

How scary are the monsters this year?

There is a particular monster that I can’t wait for people to see it and see how it gets received because it is extraordinary.

Is it strange when you see people in prosthetics, what’s been your strangest experience?

Without a doubt the strangest experience I have had was working with someone I have worked with previously, Anjli. I have worked with her many times. The thing is when people have the prosthetics on they can be barely recognisable – and she said: “Brad” and I said “Hello there, lovely to meet you” and I added that “We will have to reintroduce ourselves when you have all those prosthetics off as I won’t recognise you” and she went “Brad it’s me” and I had to apologise as I had no idea. We have worked together a few times but I just didn’t recognise her as the prosthetics she had on were so good.

What was it like working with the Cybermen?

It was really good. We were doing a fantastic exterior scene and that was great, that was an action packed day. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Do you have a highlight of your time so far?

I loved, loved, loved the first two episodes of the second series, the action scenes in the first episodes I thought that was tremendous.

You might not be able to tell us the ins and outs, but is there a particular moment you’re excited for fans to see this year?

Yes. It will be definitely the monsters I was talking about!

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

Doctor Who is a lifelong ambition for me. It strangely is the same feeling as when I did Coronation Street, big hit, massive, massive show, institutional; Law & Order – institutional in America so doing the English version… Doctor Who has been an institution from the sixties and strangely enough when I hosted the London palladium. So I have done the four of the longest running, iconic shows in television history.

I am very lucky that I have been in shows that have been on television, or hosted them, that have been going since the 1960’s. There’s not that many people that have done that. To host the London Pallidum there’s myself, Tarbuck, Forsyth and all those people but they have never done Coronation Street, they’ve never done Doctor Who. The only other entertainer that I think has done that would have been Roy Castle, he was in Doctor Who in the movie.  I’ve been very lucky, I’ve done some really great stuff in my time.

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Cinematic, exciting, thought-provoking.


Mandip Gill (Yaz)

Jodie Whittaker and friends are back with a bang! Doctor Who returns on New Year’s Day with an epic and thrilling new series full of scares and surprises.

How does it feel to be going into your second year?

It feels really exciting! It feels like we’re part of something and we’ve found our feet. People started this way before we got here, it’s not our baby, but we’re part of this massive family. I think in the first year you’re trying to prove something. You’re trying to prove that you are part of it, whereas now, we know how it works. It’s bigger than before – you do it and you think how is it going to be bigger next year? But Chris has gone further and it feels like we’ve taken ownership of it now. Now it’s like we are a four, we know what we’re doing in the TARDIS, we know what parts we all play.

How are things going to be different for Yaz this year?

For Yaz, she’s a little more grounded, I don’t think she needs The Doctor’s attention as much. She’s still really influenced by her and infatuated with her in loads of ways, but she’s found herself, she knows what to do, she’s not so scared of taking the lead. I also think she’s more excited than ever. She goes back to speak with her family and we find out a lot about Yaz’s past, and why she is the way she is and why she became a police officer, why she’s so into this journey with these people she never knew. I think for me as an actress it was really great to touch on as it gave her some sort of foundation, an explanation as to her behaviour, and why she’s so into everything and wants to go on all these journeys.

Yaz seems to really take things in her stride, are we going to see more of that this year?

Yeah definitely! Last year we really needed The Doctor, we didn’t really know what was going on. Yaz needed reassurance; she needed to be told it was okay, it was safe. She was at the forefront of going, but she also needed someone to say this is what we need to do. This time I think The Doctor needs her friends more than she needed them before. She knows where their strengths lie and what they can give to her in certain situations – but Yaz doesn’t need reassurance as much. She still believes in The Doctor but she believes in herself now too.

Are we going to see a change in dynamic between The Doctor and Yaz?

Yes and I think with The Doctor and the gang in general. There are times when we are taken aback a bit by her. There are also times when she doesn’t explain herself and we get a bit confident and we’re like: “You never tell us about your past life, you’re asking us all these questions, you never talk about yourself or why you’re upset, or this particular monster”. So I think there’s a shift both ways – I think we’ve got more confident, we’re able to push her in certain instances and she’s allowed to snap back. If she had done that in Series 11, it would have been like: “Who’s this random person shouting at us?”

Do you have a highlight from your first series and what has been your highlight from your second series of filming?

There wasn’t a highlight, it was all so exciting. It was a completely new journey, it was new people, and we had so much fun. Brad is so funny on set. We were finding out about each other and our real lives, doing the most amazing scenes, there was such a buzz around last year, with the new Doctor, a new series. You’ve come into something you’re not used to – I’ve been on shows where the buzz has been going on for years but there’s something completely different about being in Doctor Who, people are just as excited as you are.

Now it’s completely different, we’re getting dolls made of ourselves, you see yourself on calendars, and it’s played in so many countries. Series 11 was massive. The same for Series 12 as well, you have a couple months break and then you’re like I don’t really know myself now without Doctor Who. That’s been my life since 2017, when you’re not filming you’re still talking about it, you’re still part of it.

We did a two-parter at the beginning of Series 12, and there’s amazing actors in it, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, there are some amazing characters that come up and we went back to South Africa where it all started. I think the highlight was not being in England when it was winter. [laughs]

Let’s talk monsters; we hear there are some terrifying ones this series, what can you tell us about them?

We can talk about the Judoon – they are really impressive. The detail and prosthetics! Not very often do we get to see the actual monsters but these ones are there. The animatronics as well, they move but then there’s a guy that says the line completely in character from the side.

We’ve got some really scary monsters, there’s one particular monster I think is really scary, and the guy playing him is amazing. He doesn’t even need to act, you’re in the dark, it’s wet, it’s cold and it’s really scary!

Is it strange when you see people in prosthetics?

You don’t see the actor very often without the prosthetics because their call time is so much earlier than yours so they have to sit in it for ages. Some bits may get removed that they can easily put back on but they’re sat there for hours and hours just with monster teeth while we’re all talking. The weird thing is when I see their regular headshots in the makeup department.

What was it like working with the Cybermen?

It was really exciting, there’s an exciting part with the Cybermen. It’s so nice to work with new monsters but what’s so exciting being part of this family is to say you’ve been able to work with the Cybermen or monsters everyone knows. You feel part of it anyway but I really feel part of it now.

Personally, what does Doctor Who mean to you?

I find it really inclusive; I’ve found it’s opened me up to a genre I probably would never have watched. My brother and nephews watch Doctor Who and I knew what it was, but it was a bit like: “Is this too clever for me?” I didn’t understand science and unless I knew about the history, I thought this is not for me. But actually being a part of it, I realised a lot of it is actually explained. You learn so much, so if I would’ve stopped and looked at the genre, I would’ve learned something!

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Fast, action and drama.

You highlight your running technique, have you put in more effort this year?

[Laughs] I’ve watched myself back a few times. This is a really bizarre one, I am dreading watching myself run in the first two-parters because I’d obviously eaten a lot over Christmas… I think I’m going to do what I did in Series 11, where you see it, you work on it throughout the shoot and by the end of the episode we’ve improved!


Tosin Cole (Ryan)

How does it feel to be going into your second year?

It feels great, man! Lovely to be back with the team, you know there’s lots of banter, stories and experiences – I’m just looking forward to being back, it’s a pleasure.

Has anything changed for you going into the second year, have you approached anything differently? 

No not really, just getting more familiar with everyone. It’s nice coming back when you’re comfortable with everyone but before I was trying to figure everyone out, it’s kind of picking up where you left off isn’t it?

How are things going to be different for Ryan?

Just more independence in the sense he’s not really relying on The Doctor as much. He’s got more questions and using his initiative a bit more, and more adventurous in a sense.

Are we going to see a change of dynamic between The Doctor and her friends?

One hundred percent – it changes between everyone because everyone has their own vibes and feelings going on. I think because everyone’s matured in this space that they’re in, there’s a lot more questions and a lot more clashing heads. The dynamics will shift a bit, well a lot actually.

What’s the relationship with Ryan and Graham this year, are they going to be closer?

Yeah, since the last season they’ve had a heart to heart and they’ve kind of seen eye to eye so it’s just kind of picking up after that, just cracking on with their relationship.

There are some amazing guest artists, what’s been your highlight about working with them?

Just being like: “Oh, I know them now”. When you see them on TV doing other stuff you’re like: “Yeah, yeah, I know them! We’ve worked together!”

What was your highlight from last year?

Bradley doing stupid stuff on set and making me laugh! I just remember him saying: “What is it, garlic?” pretending to rehearse his lines in many different ways just before a take and when we were rolling and he forgot the line! But it happened like twenty five times. Every time I see a garlic clove when I’m cooking I start giggling. It’s so silly but you had to be there.

Sounds like it was a long day on set then?

It was a proper long day on set, it was cold, I just got back from South Africa. I think it was a night shoot. And he’s just saying: “What is it, garlic?” Proper dramatic – it was his line and he completely blanked, he didn’t know what to say. That was one of my favourite moments on set; I was just dying with laughter.

How scary are the monsters this year?

Oh no, no, no! There’s a monster that shall not be named, you’re going to see my reaction, it breaks through the wall and you’re going to see me jump and that jump is the most honest jump. I was actually scared – I knew it was going to happen but when it happened I didn’t know it was going to happen like that. I was genuinely scared. I think I had to change my pants that day! [laughs]

Is it strange when you people in prosthetics? What’s been your strangest experience?

There’s someone in this season and I’ve even seen the person before, and then she came in and I was talking to her like I’d never met her before and she said: “You do know it’s me?” I was like “No, no!” They did a really good job! Sometimes people have a slight resemblance but no, this was crazy. They were in the chair for four hours I was thinking: “Nah, I couldn’t do that”. I remember before when I wanted to play monsters and that, but when you realise you have to have an earlier call time and stuff like that, I was like not for me! [laughs]

What was it like working with the Cybermen and the Judoon and the other monsters?

It’s nice isn’t it? It’s cool because you always get to see how it works especially with the Judoon and the animatronics. You see the guys doing the voices, and you learn about them.

It’s also nice to have that classic feel. Before, we didn’t really work with the classic monsters, only on the festive episode. So to do it this season it’s nice to have that nostalgic feel to it.

Do you have a highlight of your time during the series so far?

It’s the little things for me, the banter between us and the guys. There’s so many!

What was your favourite episode of last year and why?

The Rosa Parks episode – that was my favourite. Just the weight of it and experiencing it through Ryan was just… imagine if that was really Rosa Parks, especially one of the scenes with Martin Luther King and all the civil rights leaders in that one room. I was like that is crazy! Just the weight of it and the approach we had to it, and the little nuances, it really touched me. Yeah, this was something I was really proud of. It has a special place in my heart.

You might not be able to tell us the ins and outs, but is there a particular moment you’re excited for the fans to see this year?

My stunts – there’s going to be some bangs, some booms, some action! No stunt double, all me! I do my own stunts. I’ve set the standard; I’ve set the bar quite high (laughs). People try and act like there’s no competition, I think Bradley was the first one to do a stunt and I was like: “Oh yeah? Alright cool then watch this old timer…” The episode with all of the stunts, definitely…

Have there been any jaw dropping moments when you read the script?

There’s always jaw dropping moments – Doctor Who’s actually kind of ruthless! When you watch it, someone’s always dying. I’m like I didn’t even see that coming. When we do the cast reading and when we get a new episode, something will be happening, the new villain will come in and then boom, someone’s dead. I’m always like, where did that come from?! Lots of shocks.

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

It’s just escapism isn’t it? And just the limitless to life, everyone always wonders what’s on the other side, what’s out there. And the fact that we have this show that explores all of those kinds of ventures and what ifs; it’s just escapism, and limitless, and knowing that anything is possible.

How would you describe Series 12?

I know we say this every year but the standard has really increased. It’s really exciting, dramatic… The stakes are really high this season! Like really, really high. It’s a rollercoaster of so many things. Old villains, new villains, old feelings, new feelings, questions – I think the fans are really going to enjoy it. I hope they do but I really feel like they will.


Chris Chibnall (Showrunner)

After writing one series, how did you approach your second series?

When I came in I had a long term plan for the show: With the first year, there were mainly standalone stories and no old monsters. It was really about introducing the Thirteenth Doctor, and her new friends and getting people to fall in love with those characters.

Phase two of the plan, which is this series, is taking the audience that have joined with Jodie and taking those who have been on that journey with Doctor Who for a number of years, and going deeper into the wonders and mysteries of the Doctor Who universe. We knew we wanted to bring back old monsters this year, and do some two-part stories.

Then the challenge becomes the brilliance of Jodie Whittaker, to be honest! She is so extraordinary, and my job is to feed her brilliance and to take the character into places it hasn’t been before, while still retaining the essence of the Thirteenth Doctor.

Is there anything you are approaching differently this year?

It’s really about keeping the ambition high. We achieved so much of what we wanted last year and the audience responded so positively, so now we’re going: “Right, how do we keep raising the bar? How do we surprise and delight people? How do we make Doctor Who look like it’s never looked before?”. We know how much Doctor Who means to people, so we want to give them new treats.

So we’ve kept raising the ambition, challenging ourselves and challenging the production team. They’re the big, unsung heroes in of all this process: this incredible production team at Roath Lock in Cardiff who create all these worlds and characters and surprises.

Is there going to be a different theme to the show this year, what’s different?

Yes, although it’s funny because I don’t really want to talk concretely about what the theme is until after the series is over. You want to see the audience figure it out: That’s part of the viewing experience, how that evolves.

I think it was pretty clear that the big theme of last series was family: Different versions of family and different ideas of family. There is a different governing theme this year but I’m not going to talk about it at the start. People will be able to figure out what it is. It’s pretty clear by the end.

There are some returning monsters this series, including the Judoon, why did you decide to bring them back?

Oh I love them! They’ve never come back properly before. When I started saying to people I’m thinking of bringing back the Judoon, I’d see massive smiles spread over their faces. I think they’re an incredible creation by Russell T Davies. Rhino-headed space police in leather: They stomp about the place, they scan people and they zap people who don’t cooperate – what more do you want from a Doctor Who monster? They’re both really enjoyable and quite scary as well. They’re a great one for kids of all ages.

We have a great story for them, set in Gloucester. Everybody on set was just delighted, that delight went through the whole production. Seeing them stomping around outside Gloucester cathedral is glorious. They are brilliant, and it’s a really exciting episode. I’m really pleased to bring them back.

You also have the Cybermen who are one of the Doctor’s biggest enemies, so what can you tell us about them?

It’s the Thirteenth Doctor’s first meeting with the Cybermen! It’s a story in which you’re going to be encountering a particularly relentless and ferocious set of Cybermen.

How do you find the balance between introducing new monsters but also returning monsters?

We deliberately kept to new monsters in Jodie’s first series because it was so much about the focus being on her and the gang, and giving those people and particularly those children who came to the series that year their own monsters.

It’s interesting, because although you can talk about it as old versus new, that’s slightly a false definition. Because even if you bring the Cyberman back, that’ll be the first time for some kids and for some viewers. So you have to make sure that they feel fresh and there’s an idea behind them. I feel like we did a really nice job with that and with Resolution and the Dalek – that was a new spin on a Dalek story.

I think, with any series of Doctor Who, you want it to be this wondrous array – a bit of old, a bit of new and some surprises. You want a bit of everything – stuff for kids and new viewers, and stuff that, if you’ve been watching Doctor Who for 50 years, there’s a line or an image that you’ll understand the resonance of. We’ve got all of that this year.

There are some terrifying monsters this year, what can you tell us about this? We’ve heard that episode three is particularly terrifying…

Yes, there are some pretty fearsome new monsters in episode three. We have a lot of new monsters this year, alongside the returning ones.

I think all the kids need to get that little space behind the sofa ready, for their parents, so the parents are ready to hide there.

It’s the beautiful thing about Doctor Who, it’s that scary bedtime story for the whole country.

How do you get the balance right between the scary monsters and aliens, but also having a show so many people can relate to?

I think that’s the essence of Doctor Who, and it’s how it was created. The DNA of Doctor Who contains everything. It’s got drama, warmth, humour, emotion, scares, action and excitement! You want every episode of Doctor Who to have varying degrees of all those components. That’s what makes it different from almost every other show in the world.

It’s a show about somebody who fights monsters, so you want to have a high scare factor, but also you have that amazing reassuring presence of The Doctor. The Doctor is the person who fights and vanquishes the monsters and Jodie’s Doctor is particularly strong and hopeful and reassuring and heroic, so that’s important.

But also I think it’s a mainstream BBC One drama that plays to audiences all around the world. So the relationships between the characters, both the regular cast and also the guest cast that come in every week, are really important. We pride ourselves on the amazing guest casts we get and that’s down to having good strong human characters – and good strong alien characters. Because every actor always wants to be in a prosthetic! [laughs]

How does creating a new a monster come about, what’s the process?

It really varies. Sometimes it’s an idea. Sometimes it’s an image. Sometimes it’s a thing that you think: “Oh that would terrify me if that happened.” It can really, really vary. You get a kernel of something and then you start to build it out from there.

Then it will be written into a storyline or a script, after which it gets conceptualised by a concept artist. They’ll do the first drawing, based on the description in the script or the storyline, and that first image gives us something to talk about. Once we’ve nailed what we think it is, we start to think about how it’s going to be created. That’s when we decided it’s a big physical prosthetic mask and costume, or if it’s entirely CG. It can be a really varied process.

Monster creation is one of the great bits of the job, because each time it’s different. You’re using all the disciplines of all the departments who are involved – costume for example is a really important part and underappreciated in terms of monster design. If you think about the Thijarians in Demons Of The Punjab, the amazing costumes that they wore were as important to their identity as their amazing alien faces, so it’s a real team effort.

Doctor Who has always been a global show on a massive scale, are we going to see more of that this year?

You’re going to see a lot of the world on screen. You’ll see in the two part opener, Spyfall, a huge global spy thriller and action adventure movie. It’s got global locations, big stunts, big villains, monsters, laughs, car chases, the lot.

For a show that has been going for so long, how do you make it feel so fresh and exciting for a brand new series every year?

The scope of Doctor Who is infinite, so there are always more stories. Whatever’s happening in the world, whatever people’s preoccupations are at any given moment, that refreshes it. Any new Doctor, any new cast members coming in, refreshes it.

I think it’s also down to our writing and directing team – their voices, their attitudes and concerns, their stories and characters and ways of telling stories keep it feeling a modern show. A big part of my job is to keep it feeling fresh. You’ve got an amazing heritage to call on, but also you want to be creating the stories for the ten-year-olds today to reminisce about in 40 years’ time to their kids.

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

So many different things! It means an amazing character, probably the richest character in the history of television drama, if you think about how that character has been going for 56 years. In terms of the show, it’s such a vast, brilliant, simple, beautiful idea.

I think what it means to me is the collective labour of every person who’s ever worked on Doctor Who. It’s this incredible collage of every person who’s ever touched it or made a contribution to the mythology of Doctor Who in large and small ways.

But mostly I guess what it means to me is childlike wonder. Doctor Who makes you feel like no other show does. It makes every viewer feel that childlike wonder and like you’re eight years old again. Whether if you’re 28, 58, or 98 it lets you tap into that memory of what it feels like to be a child, during the most exciting bedtime story, with the most exciting scary monster coming round the corner.

It’s sort of everything really.

How would you describe Series 12  in a few words? 

It’s an epic, entertaining, action packed, emotional rollercoaster of a journey.

For viewers who have never watched the show, why should they watch this year?

If you’re new to the show, episode one this year is the perfect starting point. You don’t need to know anything, we’ll explain it all as we go. And episode one is the most exciting way to start 2020! If you’ve never seen Doctor Who before meeting The Doctor and her friends on the journey that starts with Spyfall, you are going to have a blast!


Matt Strevens (Executive Producer)

How do you feel going into your second year?

There’s a huge sense of excitement but also continued sense of wanting to take the show further and raise the bar again. There’s a creative thrill in what we managed to achieve with our first series in terms of launching Jodie and putting our own stamp on the look of the show, the production values and stories we wanted to tell but you’ve always got somewhere new you want to take it, a feeling of having to follow that, and how do you keep moving the show forward? How do you take it to new levels? How do you continue to make it fresh for the audience? And how do you make it fresh for yourself and the production and creative team?

Have you approached anything differently this year?

Obviously we learnt a lot during the making of our first series. How long things take, what the production can do, where we can push it a little bit more, so you take on a lot of new learnings. In terms of approaching things differently, I think always in terms of the storytelling: What was the first year about, what did we need to do? Introduce this fabulous Doctor and her friends and also wanting to give people as much variety in terms of story, tone and setting, so we felt the best way to do that was telling a story of the week that could encompass the classic territory of Doctor Who – so historical episodes, contemporary Earth stories, sci-fi heavy episodes set on alien planets or on alien ships etc.

We still want to retain that, we still love the idea of stories of the week and getting as many adventures in but you’re also looking for ways to move that forward and build on it. What do we want to do with the friends and The Doctor? How does their story evolve? So in terms of storytelling, we’ve looked to build on what we learned last year, and take it to new levels and get to know our gang even better and our Doctor even better. In terms of production values, again you keep on evolving. Other shows don’t stand still and they keep moving forward. And even in the very short amount of time we’ve been off air everything changes and production values get better and more sophisticated. So it’s constantly looking at how do we move things forward, not getting complacent or just doing more of the same.

What is going to be different for The Doctor and her friends this year?

I think this year they all know each other a whole lot more. The friends really relied on The Doctor in the first year but towards the end of the last series they started taking more control. They started being a lot more proactive and I think that just continues and builds this series, they’re very much more self-sufficient. They rely on each other. They’ve learned from The Doctor so they learn how to question things in the way The Doctor questions things. They’re a lot more interrogative and a lot more questioning. They’re the heroes of their stories.

The Doctor is facing more challenges. There are questions for her. I think she is going to need the gang a lot more. So she’s going to rely on them a lot more. Also, they’re over the initial kind of complete discombobulation and amazement of being in this space and time machine with this amazing alien, it’s settled a bit for them. And although every week is a new surprise, it’s still a completely surreal adventure, they are starting to ask questions about their adventures now. They’re starting to ask questions about The Doctor and what makes her tick and who she is.

There’s going to be some amazing guest stars. Focusing on the first episode, we’ve got Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry, what can you tell us about this? How did this all come about?

The way it works is Chris writes the script first. We had two very important parts so right from the start, we said let’s do our wish list. It’s the first episode back; it’s also the first episode of the series. We want a real treat for the audience. Let’s just completely punch as high as we can punch. And obviously Lenny is somebody that we greatly admire and Chris’s worked with him before. So he’s always been in our mind and we always knew we wanted to work with Lenny. And Stephen is on every list you put together. He’s a national treasure, we adore him so we went to them first and we’re very lucky that we got our first choices for those roles, especially as they are both fantastically busy all the time.

We’ve heard there are some scary monsters this year. What’s the process of creating these?

I think they are really scary! What you work with is, you go back and you remember classic episodes of Doctor Who and think about what really works, what really scares us, what can we do within the framework? How scary can we be? It’s a family show but what you realise is that the show’s always pushed the boundaries on that. And it has been incredibly scary, and people love to be scared. We created a lot of new monsters and threats last year, and this year we’ve got even more.

It always starts with the script and then the writer of that episode has an idea of the monster, and then we really interrogate it. There’s nothing harder for the design team, when you’ve got something that’s incredibly nebulous, and you don’t know really what it is. So we always encourage the writers, and Chris is very good at this, to really pin down what this monster needs to feel like. Then you open up it to the creative team and the designers, the creature designer, the costume designer Ray Holman, whether it’s the prosthetics team or whether it’s special makeup with Claire Pritchard, you look for inspiration and sometimes they’ll take it in a different direction to what was written and it’s a discussion such as: “But how about if we added this or how about if it was more like this?” Then we all get excited by each other’s ideas and as we get concepts in, that’s when you really start to hone the process down. But we’ve got some real behind the sofa moments this year.

Is there a particular moment from the upcoming series that you’re really excited for viewers to see? Was there a moment when you read a script where you had an idea and you thought, I can’t wait for viewers to see this?

There are lots of different moments. I think I’m really genuinely excited about our first episode. I think it’s huge. I think we really wanted to push the boundaries of what we could do and give the audience a real treat. They haven’t seen The Doctor and the gang for a year so we really wanted to bring it back with a bang and I think we’ve done that. What’s been really exciting is this whole series feels like we’ve constantly kept pushing and pushing and pushing! There were loads of lovely surprises and again, each episode feels very, very different; from the locations and the settings and designs and score of every episode. Everything does feel incredibly special and bespoke so that’s really exciting.

For a show that has been going for so long, how do you make it feel so fresh and exciting and like a brand new series every year?

That was bequeathed to us in terms of the format of the show. The great thing about the show is that it has an inbuilt renewal and although the show has been going for a very long time, the basic premise of the show is still exactly the same as it was back in 1963. You can bring in a whole new raft of characters and a new actor playing The Doctor and then what you constantly have each year is new things at your disposal, new technological advances, new ways of doing things, going to different locations and everything else. It has that ability to constantly change itself up.

So you keep it fresh by doing the things that are basic to every great drama, which is it’s all about the story. The story always hinges on the characters and so if you’ve got a great central character, great core characters, and great guest characters it just keeps an inbuilt freshness. And that is what we strive to do all the time. We have a great core cast, we have a great Doctor, so let’s build on last year, let’s have really, really great guest characters that are fully rounded, that you can fall in love with or hate or whatever but just have some really great parts there as well. I think that helps to keep it fresh.

What does Doctor Who mean to you?

Doctor Who means a lot of things to me. I watched it growing up so in some ways, one is slightly in awe of it, you feel like you’re carrying a glass vase across a very shiny floor you just want to preserve this national treasure. On the other hand, it represents just the most amazing challenge to me in a really great way. It is a real privilege and it’s incredibly exciting and it’s kind of like wish fulfilment. It’s like getting a ticket into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. That’s what it means to me.

How would you describe Series 12 in three words?

Exhilarating. Funny. Climactic.

For those who didn’t watch the show last year, why should they watch this year?

Well, what’s really lovely about this year is that if you come in on the first episode, it’s very clear who our characters are and who our Doctor is, and what the world is. So still I would say, you don’t need any prior knowledge of the show to come and enjoy Series 12 and if you stick with this series there are lots of lovely things that happen and develop throughout the series. If this is your first episode, it’s a great series to come in on, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll fall in love with everybody and it will take you on a journey.

Doctor Who, Spyfall: screening at BFI Southbank

Doctor Who, Spyfall: screening at BFI Southbank

A screening of the Doctor Who, Series 12 opening episode Spyfall, Part 1 was held for the press and special guests at BFI Southbank in London, Wednesday evening, December 17.

A few journalists and a number of children where invited to the screening.

Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Spyfall co-star Sir Lenny Henry were present at the screening, as were showrunner Chris Chibnall and composer Segun Akinola.

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Only the children attending were allowed to ask questions of the panel after the screening, which featured Chris Chibnall, Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and Sir Lenny Henry.

After the screening and the panel, guests socialised and enjoyed hamburgers with “DOCTOR WHO” branded on the bun.

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There were very few comments by the journalists present on Spyfall, Part 1. We can expect to hear more from them when their reviews appear in various publications on an unknown date the BBC has chosen, possibly as early as a week from the screening.

Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, Spyfall, Part 1 airs Wednesday, January 1 at 6:55 p.m. on BBC One, and 8:00 p.m. on BBC America.