Doctor Who Season 12, the second starring the brilliant Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, will be back sometime in 2020, which isn’t so far away… anymore. We’ve not got new Who since the New Year’s Eve special at the beginning of the year, with very little promotion or news, either.
read more: #WhoForSchools Records Exclusive Doctor Who Commentary
Until now…
Doctor Who Season 12 Trailer
The official BBC accounts just released a Doctor Who Season 12 poster, along with a mysterious “Watch this space…” Could this mean a Season 12 trailer is on its way? The twelfth season has been in production for months, so it is very likely. We’ll be sure to update this article as soon as it drops. In the meantime, check out this trippy poster…
Advertisement
Doctor Who Season 12 Release Date
Doctor Who Season 12 will not arrive until sometime in early 2020.
Season 12 started filming in the Western Cape of South Africa back in November. The cast and crew are no strangers to the area, having filmed series 11’s “Rosa” and “The Ghost Monument” over in the country. The Beeb posted this first pic of Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole on location…
Doctor Who Season 12 Cast
As showrunner Chris Chibnall expresses of Jodie Whittaker’s return in a statement:
“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 13th Doctor.”
read more: Doctor Who’s History of Political & Social Consciousness
There’s emphasis on the “and friends” part of Chibnall’s statement, since it has been confirmed that the companion lineup of Tosin Cole (Ryan), Mandip Gill (Yaz) and Bradley Walsh (Graham) will be back upon the show’s 2020 return. As Chibnall further states:
“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!”
The confirmation of Whittaker’s sophomore season run as the Doctor will, regardless of its unsurprising nature, be a relief to fans in the sense that it eliminates the possibility of the show’s first female headliner ending up in the annals of the franchise as a one-timer; a fate akin to the run of Christopher Eccleston, who, as the Ninth Doctor, served as the inaugural star of the current iteration of the classic series in 2005, only to hand his sonic screwdriver to successor David Tennant after just a single season—a decision he has only recently started discussing publicly.
read more: Rachel Talalay & The Long Way ‘Round
Indeed, only Eccleston’s immediate predecessor, Paul McGann, had a less climactic tenure, fielding the role of the Eighth Doctor in an American-set 1996 TV movie that served as the BBC’s first attempt to create intercontinental appeal for the franchise when it aired on Fox in the U.S. Yet, McGann eventually reprised the role onscreen in 2013 for a fan-pleasing 7-minute prologue to that year’s multi-Doctor-starring Christmas special.
Season 11, the first under the purview of new showrunner Chris Chibnall – after he took the reins from longtime boss Steven Moffat – has been critically praised, though its rogues gallery choices have left some fans a little antsy waiting to see the Thirteenth Time Lord take on traditional Doctor Who nemeses like the Daleks or Cybermen.
read more: Why Boys and Men Need a Female Doctor, Too
Whittaker debuted as the Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas Special, “Twice Upon a Time,” in a regeneration hand-off scene from predecessor Peter Capaldi, leading to the commencement of her run in the October 7, 2018 Season 11 premiere, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” which is cited as having banked 10.9 million viewers in the U.K., representing the show’s biggest launch. The premiere in the U.S. on BBC America earned 1.367 million viewers, with the season averaging 0.871 million overall.
Yet, there are many sources of quantifiable data to determine television success these days with DVR viewings and streaming. Indeed, the BBC also recently cited an additional 2.9 million viewers for “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” via streaming requests on its BBC iPlayer site.
Nevertheless, Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor will be back for another season of wanton timey-wimey in Doctor Who Season 12, which starts shooting in early-2019, leading to a premiere that, as we now know, won’t occur until 2020. However, she’ll next be seen in the midst of some auld lang syne action in the January 1 New Year’s Day special, which substitutes for the annual Christmas special.
Doctor Who Season 12 Villain
We know at least one of the villains popping up in Doctor Who Season 12: the Judoon, first seen on Who facing off against David Tennant’s 10th Doctor in 2007’s “Smith and Jones.”
“No! Sho! Blo!” Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall said in a statement, back in May. “The Judoon are storming back into Doctor Who in full force, and the streets of Gloucester aren’t safe. If anyone has anything to hide, confess now. The Judoon are taking no prisoners, and will stop at nothing to fulfil their mission! The whole team on Doctor Who are delighted and scared in equal measure to welcome them back: one of many treats we’ve got in store for viewers next series. And we’re over the moon (with Judoon), to be welcoming the wondrous Neil Stuke as guest star. We can’t wait to show you what happens when his path crosses with the Thirteenth Doctor.”
Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.