The official BBC Doctor Who Twitter page set fans two hearts ablaze after releasing a photo of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor exiting the TARDIS. Captioning the teaser photo with the phrase, “Watch this space,” the BBC ramped up anticipation for news of the upcoming twelfth season - and may well be teasing a trailer.
Jodie Whittaker made history in 2018 as the first female actress to portray the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who frequently travels through time and space, more often than not with a companion or two by their side from Earth. The show has been running for more than 50 years now, and the Doctor has been through many casting changes. The Doctor’s past regenerations have all been portrayed by men, but Whittaker replaced Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor and became the first woman to take on the role.
Other than the tentative 2020 premiere date, information about the new season has been scarce, which is why fans have latched onto the BBC teaser photo below with such excitement. With the promise of more to come, the most likely interpretation of is that there’s a trailer on the way soon. In addition to the official promo image, a Doctor Who Instagram fan account has also shared a photo of season 12 filming on Bristol’s Clifton suspension bridge, with some iconic Doctor Who Daleks on set. The Daleks are classic Who villains, who are constantly making appearances to thwart the Doctor. Fans last saw the Thirteenth Doctor battling the Daleks as they attempted to take over the Earth during the 2019 New Year’s Day special.
Jodie Whittaker’s first season as the Thirteen Doctor was a fresh start across the board for the classic British program, with new showrunner Chris Chibnall taking over from Stephen Moffat, who had helmed the show during the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor’s seasons. Chibnall had written several Doctor Who episodes before taking the reins, and also created the show Broadchurch, which featured former Tenth Doctor David Tennant and Whittaker herself before she was cast in the role of the Thirteenth Doctor.
Whittaker’s first season also broke from the usual one or two companion format, bringing three companions from Earth along for the ride during all her adventures in time and space. While the initial news of Whittaker’s casting was met with some fan backlash (the argument being that the Doctor always regenerated as a man), her take on the classic character was met with a warm reception. Whittaker’s premiere episode, the first of season 11, was watched by eleven million viewers in the UK alone, the strongest season premiere ratings for the show in a decade.
What remains to be seen is what to expect from the new season in 2020. Will the Thirteenth Doctor face off against even more iconic Doctor Who baddies - possibly a new regeneration of the Doctor’s ultimate foil, the Master? The Doctor’s companions are also notoriously prone to bad luck when traveling with the Doctor. Will Graham (Bradley Walsh), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Yasmin (Mandip Gil) make it out of the new season in one piece? Hopefully we’ll find out more if, as we suspect, there’s a trailer for Doctor Who season 12 on the way.
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