In an interview in the March 2020 issue Pilot TV magazine, Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall confirmed what we previously reported, that an episode of Doctor Who Series 12 will feature Frankenstein author Mary Shelley.

When asked if he keeps a list of historical figures he’d like to feature in Doctor Who, Chris Chibnall stated:

“We do have a list – so yeah, [inventor Nikola] Tesla was absolutely on the list, and we go meet Lord Byron and Mary Shelley later on in the series. Maxine Alderton wrote that episode, she’s a massive aficionado of the romantics, and it’s [set on] that night when Shelley was writing Frankenstein. And you’re like, these guys are going to want to go and visit them, so, yeah, you’re always looking how you can drop these figures in, in unexpected ways.”

Chris Chibnall speaks of the eighth episode of Doctor Who Series 12 which, along with Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole, costars Lili Miller, Maxim Baldry, Jacob Collins-Levy and Nadia Parkes.

Nadia Parkes’ CV lists her as playing Marry Shelly’s stepsister, Claire Cairmont, who was present with Shelley (then Mary Godwin) along with Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Polidori at Villa Diodati at Lake Geneva the night when Shelley conceived the idea to write Frankenstein.

Lili Miller, pictured above with Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill, likely plays Mary Shelley.

Written by Maxine Alderton and directed by Emma Sullivan, Episode 8 of Doctor Who Series 12 will air Sunday February 16, 7:10 p.m. on BBC One and at 8:00 p.m. on BBC America.