Doctor Who season 13 is coming, but there’ll be fewer episodes than usual

At long last, the Doctor Who team has gotten to work on the show’s 13th season, but with the pandemic still raging, there’s a catch or two:

At long last, the 13th season of Doctor Who has begun production. And that’s with Jodie Whittaker playing the Thirteenth Doctor, no less. This should be an auspicious season!

Unfortunately, there’s a catch. The reason this season has been so long in coming is because the BBC had to take time and figure out how they were going to film it while also following the coronavirus restrictions de rigueur in the TV industry while this pandemic goes on. Following those restrictions means the show will shoot slower than normal, and at the end of the day, they’ll produce fewer episodes than fans are used to.

Showrunner Chris Chibnall lays it all out in a statement:

"In this strangest of years, the Doctor Who production team have worked wonders to get the show back into production. We’re thrilled to be back making the show. Given the complexity of making Doctor Who, and with new and rigorous COVID working protocols, it’s going to take us a little longer to film each episode, meaning we expect to end up with eight episodes, rather than the usual 11. But rest assured, the ambition, humor, fun and scares you expect from Doctor Who will all still be firmly in place. For everyone around the world, this is a challenging period — but the Doctor never shirks from a challenge!"

It’s a shame there will only be eight episodes this time around, but with all the extra time the team had to polish the scripts, perhaps they’ll make up for that by making them the best episodes in the series history. Why not dream big?

BBC Studios executive producer Matt Strevens was also upbeat. “We are so thrilled to have unlocked the TARDIS, dusted down the sonic and be able to start filming again for the next season of Doctor Who,” he said. “The amazing production team, crew and cast have worked wonders to get us shooting again in these challenging times. It’s going to be as fun-filled and action-packed as ever — with plenty of surprises.”

We don’t know when season 13 might debut; probably not for awhile, but fans won’t have to wait that long for a new Doctor Who adventure. The team filmed the show’s annual holiday special, “Revolution of the Daleks,” before the pandemic hit, and it should be along by the end of the year.

When last we left the Doctor, she was confined to an extraterrestrial prison, with her companions Yaz (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Graham (Bradley Walsh) forced to soldier on without her. So we’ll see how that all wraps up, and then the waiting will begin.

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h/t SyFy Wire