Filming: Is Doctor Who taking a trip to South Africa?

Filming for Doctor Who’s season eleven has been going on for awhile, but it’s in the public eye even more now that it’s a new year. Without a Christmas Special to distract us with, people are starting to pay even more attention to the filming locations. The most interesting one isn’t even in the same hemisphere as England!

The TARDIS has indeed landed in South Africa! Filming has been going on since at least New Year’s Day, near Cape Town.

https://twitter.com/firsuidema/status/943779925311541249

“Doctor Who is now filming here in Cape Town” is the translation of the tweet, originally written in Dutch. Cape Town is home to the background of many shows and movies including Outlander and The Avengers have used it to show different atmospheres due to its diversity in locations.

With all this being said, what could possibly be happening in Doctor Who to warrant such a huge atmospheric change?

The show Outlander used Cape Town for their third season when they needed a backdrop for the Caribbean. Could our TARDIS friends be going to a tropical paradise? It’s almost impossible to know with how diverse the location is. But we can expect a huge change of scene, no matter what backdrop they use.

Currently, the actors are expected to be there for about a month. Fans expect this to be part of a two-parter, due to the longer film time.

This is definitely something new for Doctor Who. There have only been a couple times that the TARDIS has gone out of Europe. To go to South Africa is a huge step and a sign of the “cinematic” change that Chibnall promised for his era of Doctor Who.

It’s also said that the cast will be visiting Ireland later. And if you need help about what the backdrop looks like, can I point you to Game of Thrones?