This news summary on the eleventh 21st Century season of Doctor Who will be updated regularly as more details are revealed.

 

Who are the executive producers?

Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall will take over as lead writer and executive producer when Steven Moffat departs at the end of Season 10 in 2017.

Matt Strevens (Misfits, An Adventure in Space and Time) will executive produce alongside Chibnall.

Chris Chibnall: “Doctor Who is the ultimate BBC programme: bold, unique, vastly entertaining, and adored all around the world. So it’s a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama.”

Steven Moffat: “It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of Season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who. And I will be thrown in a skip.”

 

Who is playing the Doctor?

Chris Chibnall: “I have ideas for what I want to do then we will go out and find a person who would match that. People love actors and people turn on shows for actors. So you want to find an actor who people are going to be interested in and delighted and intrigued by in that role. The joy of the casting process is that often the first people you have in your mind are not necessarily the people you end up getting and then you can’t imagine once you start working with them anybody else doing it.”

Chris Chibnall: “…I have a very clear sense of what we’re going to do, without even knowing who’s going to play the part.”

Peter Capaldi will depart Doctor Who in 2017’s Christmas special, with the Thirteenth Doctor taking over in Season 11.

Daily Mirror: “BBC bosses want Doctor Who to feel like “a brand new show” under incoming boss Chris Chibnall… so we can expect a whole new line-up in 2018. Insiders say the Broadchurch writer will have a “clean slate” to start afresh for his first series…”

BBC source: “BBC management wants a return to the format from the David Tennant era, when you had a dashing male lead and young female companion. Merchandising has dropped off sharply in recent years and there is a strong desire to boost the show’s popularity among kids.”

The Mirror: “Bosses are already discussing a fresh start when Steven [Moffat] leaves. They’ve been happy with what Peter has brought to the role but some think it might make sense to give Chris [Chibnall] his own choice of actor to play the Doctor. They hope he will be able to find someone who can have the same impact as Matt Smith did when Steven Moffat kicked off his run as executive producer.”

 

When does filming start?

Season 11 is expected to begin filming in early 2018.

 

When will it air?

Season 11 is expected to be shown in autumn 2018.

 

How many episodes will there be?

Episode numbers have not yet been confirmed, but 12 episodes looks likely, followed by a Christmas special.

 

What should we expect from the new era?

Chris Chibnall: “…you can basically tell any story in the universe.”

Steven Moffat: “…what’s exciting about Chris is, I don’t think people have seen his Doctor Who yet. He’s done Russell [T Davies]’s Doctor Who, and he’d done my Doctor Who … so I don’t think we’ve seen Chris’ authorial take on Doctor Who, and I’ll be very, very excited to see what that is.”

Steven Moffat: “He’ll have, I would think, a quite different approach. I could make some guesses about where he’ll go with it, but… I’m not going to say. Except, beautiful dialogue. And beautiful plotting. He’ll be amazing.”

Steven Moffat: “He’s very much his own man, so I don’t precisely know what he’ll be like. But he has a tremendous grasp of how you run a show like this. He’s coming in knowing how showrunning works, in a way that I didn’t. So Chris will bring the experience.”

Matt Strevens: “I grew up watching [Doctor Who]. My Doctor was Tom Baker and then Peter Davison. I’m a huge Peter Davison fan.”

Matt Smith: “…[Chibnall is] a brilliant writer, I think he understands the show, the history of the show, the legacy. I think he’ll have a really good interesting grand plan and you know, I can’t wait to see what he’ll do. I’m one hundred per cent behind him.”

Peter Capaldi: “I think Chris is a wonderful writer, so that’s the exciting thing about Doctor Who — I don’t really know what he’s going to do with it. It’s going to be different and he’ll take it in a direction that is his… and that’ll be very exciting. That’s the lovely thing about Doctor Who, it keeps changing. Steven’s been fabulous but it will be very exciting to see what Chris does.”

Mark Gatiss: “…huge congratulations to Chris Chibnall on his elevation to Lord President! The show is in very good hands.”

Chris Chibnall: “I’ve loved Doctor Who since I was four years old, and I’m relishing the thought of working with the exceptional team at BBC Wales to create new characters, creatures and worlds for the Doctor to explore.”

Polly Hill, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning: “Chris Chibnall is the perfect successor to take over the reins of this incredible show, so I am delighted that his love for Doctor Who has made it impossible for him to resist! Chris is an incredible writer and his vision and passion for Doctor Who gives it an exciting future and promises to be a real treat for Doctor Who fans across the world.”

 

Will there be any returning characters?

John Barrowman: “Chris [Chibnall] wrote a lot for Captain Jack [in Torchwood], so… who knows!”

 

Who will the writers be?

Mark Gatiss: “I think Chris [Chibnall] has got an entirely new writing team. I don’t think anyone knows any details, which is kind of exciting!”

Phil Ford: “Obviously, I would jump at doing more Doctor Who.”

Catherine Tregenna: “I would absolutely love to get involved again. It was, and still is, a great experience. I’d definitely write [an episode] again… if they’d have me back!”

Neil Gaiman: “Now I’m just sort of hoping that I can get one done while Peter Capaldi is still the Doctor, because it would be a very sad thing if I lost my chance to write for a grumpy, Scottish Doctor.”

Gareth Roberts: “I’d love to see William Russell back [as Ian Chesterton] in the show! That’s so rich and so fertile for someone to do. You’d have to explain it enough so that everyone would get it.”

Neil Cross: “There’s a whole bunch of stuff I want to do.”

 

Will Chris Chibnall really be adopting the American-style ‘writers room’ system?

Chris Chibnall: “I really like that and in some ways it is less pressure than writing eight hours by yourself. It will be a very different process and experience in every way and in the end that turned out to one of the appeals of the job.”

BBC spokesperson: “It’s still very early days and no fixed model has been decided upon yet. Chris Chibnall as the new showrunner will write his own episodes and is currently exploring different ways of working with new and established writers on the show.”

 

 

What do you want to see in Season 11? Let us know below…