With Doctor Who season 12 reaching the first half of its two-part finale this weekend, fans are turning their thoughts to the future of the show and the dreaded drought between episodes. Sadly, gone are the days when a new season would arrive at the same time every year. For instance, we only had one measly special to keep us going throughout 2019. Showrunner Chris Chibnall has now confirmed, though, that season 13 will almost definitely air in 2021.
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate episode, titled “Ascension of the Cybermen,” the writer/producer had a brief comment to make about the release date of the following run, saying:
“It will be next year sometime, hopefully, unless my holiday goes on for a really long time, which is always tempting.”
Last weekend, producer Tracie Simpsons attended the Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles and revealed that pre-production on season 13 is beginning in June with filming then kicking off in September. As I theorized at the time, this points to the episodes hitting our screens no sooner than next fall. A full-season shoot typically lasts about 10 months, plus a couple of extra months for post-production.
Combined with Chibnall’s latest words, we can likely expect season 13 to premiere sometime in October 2021. This would match up with how season 11 started that month back in 2018. A clear pattern is developing here, then: Chibnall has decided to release each season on an alternate 12/18 month schedule. So, after season 13, we’d presumably get season 14 at the start of 2023.
But enough about the future. Here in the present, the Doctor and her friends are due to travel to a dystopian future where humanity has been almost wiped out by the Cybermen. Somehow, it’s also going to tie into the ongoing Timeless Child mystery from the Time Lord’s past. Find how out how when Doctor Who 12×09 “Ascension of the Cybermen” airs tomorrow on BBC One/America.