There might be no twelfth season of the series coming this year, but at least the BBC are treating faithful fans with a little extra Doctor Who that’ll move the franchise into an exciting new medium.
It’s been announced today that the Doctor is about to enter the world of virtual reality in a short animated adventure called Doctor Who: The Runaway. The 12-ish minute long story will allow viewers to hop on board the TARDIS and, as the press release puts it, become “the Doctor’s champion.” The Time Lord, who’ll be voiced by the Thirteenth Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker, will “find themselves at the centre of the action facing a deadly threat.”
Jo Pearce, creative director of the BBC’s digital drama team, said the following about this new project in a statement released earlier today:
“Fans will experience the TARDIS like never before in this thrilling new interactive story. As ever, the Doctor is full of warmth, wit and charm – helped by a wonderful performance from Jodie – which puts fans at the heart of the story as they immerse themselves in this beautifully animated world.”
Meanwhile, Zillah Watson, head of BBC VR Hub, explained that the episode is part of an overall scheme to create more VR content, saying:
“Our team at the BBC VR Hub has been creating new experiences with the goal of helping to usher virtual reality into the mainstream, and Doctor Who is exactly the sort of series that can help more people to try this new technology. The show has been pushing boundaries for over 55 years, and VR enables Doctor Who to explore a whole new dimension of storytelling.”
The Runaway, produced by BBC VR Hub and Passion Animation Studios, is written by Victoria Asare-Archer and directed by Mathias Chelebourg, with music from the show’s regular composer Segun Akinola. Fans will also note that it’s the first new animated Doctor Who adventure since 2009’s Dreamland, starring David Tennant.
Unfortunately, there’s no news on when it’ll be available just yet, but as soon as we hear more we’ll be sure to let you know, so stay tuned.