Doctor Who Series 13 at San Diego Comic Con – What We Learned

Blogtor Who’s rundown of all the news from this year’s Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic Con

Thanks to today’s Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic Con, the countdown to Series 13 has truly begun. The panel featured Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yaz Khan), John Bishop (Dan), and head writer Chris Chibnall. And the question and answer session hosted by Melanie McFarland gave us some tantalizing new information about the upcoming series.

We already knew some details. Series 13 officially started filming last November. It’s production time will be approximately the same as with other recent series, but with Covid protections meaning each scene takes substantially longer to film, it will comprise of eight episodes. It was originally announced as being intended to be broadcast in late 2021, but with the major caveat that potential lockdowns could further delay it. And we knew that John Bishop was coming aboard the TARDIS as Dan. But what new information do we have now?

Dan has a last time – he’s Dan Lewis. He also looks set to be the TARDIS new resident funny man, but in a somewhat more physical way than Graham with pratfalls featuring in the trailer.

The Doctor and Yaz will have been travelling together alone for some time as Series 13 begins. In fact, in contrast to Dan, Yaz is now clearly the experienced and confident time traveller.

Series 13 will comprise the longest Doctor Who story since 1985’s The Trial of a Time Lord, with all eight episodes being part of one huge epic adventures. Which also means, Chibnall points out, “lots of cliffhangers.”

They’ll be joined in their adventures by the recurring character of Vinder, played by Game of Thrones’ Jacob Anderson. Vinder spends time aboard the TARDIS with the team, but also has his own spaceship.

The series will feature some returning monsters not yet seen in the Thirteenth Doctor’s era.

Not many more specifics were forthcoming, with head writer Chris Chibnall even laughing about his own reputation for keeping the show’s secrets close to his chest. “Literally nothing,” he laughed when asked if there was anything he wanted to reveal about the upcoming twists and turns of Series 13. Jodie Whittaker did reveal that she’s a huge admirer of Michelle Gomez’ performance as Missy, which will surely only add to the fan desire for them to someday meet.

Doctor Who Series 13 is currently filming, intended for broadcast later in 2021.It stars Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, Mandip Gill as her companion Yaz, and John Bishop as newcomer Dan.