Doctor Who series shortened due to pandemic

Doctor Who series 13, starring Jodie Whittaker as the titular Time Lord, has officially begun principal photography as a new national lockdown begins. As with the latest season of His Dark Materials, series 13 will be shorter due to the pandemic.

"In this strangest of years, the Doctor Who production team have worked wonders to get the show back into production," series showrunner Chris Chibnall explained.

"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 eleven.

"But rest assured, the ambition, humour, 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."

BBC America will have a Doctor Who marathon between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, which would suggest the festive special, Revolution of the Daleks, is going to be on New Year’s Day again. However, this is unconfirmed.

HBO Max is exclusively streaming every series of Doctor Who since 2005. UK fans can watch series 1-12 on BBC iPlayer and all available classic serials on BritBox.

Are you excited for Revolution of the Daleks and series 13? Let me know in the comments below.