Monsters, character development and long-form storytelling coming in Doctor Who season 12

On New Year’s Day, Doctor Who will return with an explosive two-part episode, “Spyfall,” an episode that showrunner Chris Chibnall says will up the ante on the kinds of smaller-scale stories the show told in season 11, the first featuring Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. “I would say it is epic, funny, action-packed, global thriller,” Chibnall told The A.V. Club. “And if I go much further, the snipers around this room will take me out. But it’s pretty big. It’s filmed all around the world. It has some great stunts, some great locations, some great actors. It’s an hour of excitement, and that’s just part one.”

Chibnall and company spent the last season of Doctor Who getting used to things. It was a new era for the show. Not only is there a new actor in the main role, but for the first time, a woman is playing the Doctor. Chibnall is brand new, too, as are the companions and the behind-the-scenes staff. But now that they’ve established themselves, Chibnall is looking to go bigger for his sophomore season:

"We had a very clear strategy for the first season, in terms of ten standalone stories—very much a jumping-on point for new audiences, which is always great with a new Doctor. I think this season is a different proposition. It’s taking those characters that hopefully people have fallen in love with, and now going deeper into the Doctor Who world: We’re bringing back some monsters, we’re going deeper into their lives, going deeper into the Doctor. Even structurally, we had a very clear strategy for this season; there are more two-part stories, there is a little bit more of a serial arc threading through."

As for what monsters the show is bringing back, Chibnall confirms that the Cybermen and the Judoon are “the biggies.” For the rest of the creatures — and probably for the Cybermen, too — expect them to take no prisoners. “In the U.K., the phrase ‘behind the sofa’ is always applied to Doctor Who,” Chibnall said, “and I think we’re going to be wanting people to move their sofas away from the wall because there are a few monsters in this season that I think are going to have people—parents more than children, obviously—running for behind the sofa.”

So that’s British for, “Doctor Who season 12 will be scary.” Fine by me.

But the heart of Doctor Who has always been the characters. By the sound of it, Chibnall will put them through the ringer. “The Thirteenth Doctor is, you’re quite right, absolutely an optimist and a beacon of hope at her heart,” he said. “Yes, the way to find out how deep those values go is to challenge them. She’s going to come across some quite profound challenges and questions this series, definitely, and that’s the question. How much will that make her stronger? That’s the journey she’s on.”

As for the companions, Yaz (Mandip Gill) is going to become more independent, while Graham (Bradley Walsh) and his step-grandson Ryan (Tosin Cole) continue to find an equilibrium. “So you’ll see them continue to encircle each other, navigate each other, irritate each other, adore each other—it’s a constantly in flux relationship, really, in no small part due to that love and chemistry between [Bradley Walsh] and [Tosin Cole],” said Chibnall. “They also have a great comic timing together. I think it was something that really came out last year; I first noticed it when we were filming the Rosa Parks episode with the little scene they do by the river, where they’re ensnaring the bus driver in what we call a fishing take down.

"They’re a great duo, and there’s all sorts of flavors that you can play with there. As you say, there’s a lot of pain in that relationship, but equally there’s a lot of humor and warmth and love as well. And having three characters as well, three companions, enables us to play different dynamics across different episodes. Also, you’ll see a bit more of them going off in little splinter units this year on various missions. So there’s lots of ways in which those things evolve, but we’re returning home as well."

Having four people knocking around in the Tardis does provide more potential character dynamics to explore than if there are just two, as there were for a while before this.

The second season of a show is often when it hits its stride. Yes, this is technically season 12, but Doctor Who regenerates so often, it’s like we’re always going off on a new adventure.

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