Doctor Who - Series 12: What We Know So Far Thread

Oh, look, another Doctor Who blog entry and while I did consider last night making this a post about this show's increasingly divided fanbase, I thought it might be better to keep this more neutral for now and focus on what we seem to know so far for the upcoming twelfth series.

First of all, as I mentioned in my recent TV Jumble blog, the Judoon are coming back for the new series and it seems that going by the promo picture released from the BBC, they've gone and got themselves a mohawk since the last time we saw them back in 2015. Given that the previous series was lacking familiar monsters until the Dalek reappearance in Resolution, having the Judoon back is a good first step. I'm going to assume they won't be the only reappearances from an old enemy for the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and companions Graham (Bradley Walsh), Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Yasmin (Mandip Gill) in the upcoming series, which is set to be another 10 episodes.

In terms of guest actors this upcoming series, it seems that one familiar face will be appearing, albeit in a different role. Anjli Mohindra, best known for her role as Rani Chandra in spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-2011) will appear in the current episode filmed with the Judoon as the character, Queen Skithra while other episodes will feature Neil Stuke, Jo Martin as a character called Ruth Clayton and Julia Foster as Marcia. There are rumours of Stephen Fry appearing in an episode that was filmed earlier in the year. Of course it's mainly down to spoiler hounds that some of this information has come to light as the BBC themselves (minus the press release on the Judoon) are still being a bit too tight lipped about the upcoming series.

Aside from current showrunner Chris Chibnall penning episodes for the new series, other writers will include Ed Hime (It Takes You Away), Vinay Patel (Demons Of The Punjab), Victoria Asare-Archer (who has written the VR game, The Runaway) and Prassana Puwanarajah for now. Directors seemingly confirmed for the upcoming series are Jamie Stone for the first and fifth blocks, Lee Haven Jones for the second block, Nida Manzoor for block three (the current one with the Judoon and Anjli's character) and Emma Sullivan for block four. Current rumoured episodes also include one focusing on Florence Nightingale and a musical episode. Filming for these episodes so far has taken place in Cardiff, Sheffield, Gloucester, Cape Town and Tenerife and filming won't finish for the series until later in the year. Hopefully as we head into the second half of 2019, more concrete information will come to light about what is ahead for Whittaker in her second year as the Doctor.

Link: https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Series_12_(Doctor_Who)

Series 12 of Doctor Who will air in 2020 on BBC1 and BBCAmerica. I'll do another blog in the next couple of weeks, assuming we get more information (or a trailer at SDCC) to mull over.