Doctor Who Series 12 will show a different side of the thirteenth Doctor

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Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall spoke of delving deeper into the thirteenth Doctor’s personality in a press event interview at Roath Lock Studios on September 24, as recorded in the January issue of SFX magazine.

Jodie Whittaker had this to say:

“The thing about this part is that it’s like no other, is that you don’t have restrictions… With a show like Doctor Who, those go out of the window. There’s an endless possibility in the realms of the character you can go. You can touch on a side of that character that you haven’t before, without it being as if they’ve have a lobotomy! Some of these episodes go in a direction that is different for the Doctor than the previous seasons, that shows a side to her that we haven’t seen yet.”

Described by the magazine as short on “direct, definitive statements” on Series 12 due to “secrecy protocols,” showrunner Chris Chibnall confirmed Whittaker’s statement.

“I think we’ve delved deeper into the thirteenth Doctor this year. That’s all I’m saying. You’ll see things you didn’t see last year in terms of facets of the Doctor.”

“For me,” Jodie Whittaker continued when asked about the unique trait of the Doctor, “it’s never stepping into a situation and deciding you know how it’s going to end. That’s quite a human trait, because we need control, and we need structure. You don’t want to get off a train if you don’t know where you are – you won’t just randomly get off at a different stop. The Doctor would absolutely do that! And feeling that freefall is okay. I think that jumping in feet-first, having fear and not knowing if you’re going to succeed, and doing it anyway, is the trait of the Doctor.

With the Doctor, for me, it’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be devastated. And it’s okay to find something funny that social constraints would say, ‘That’s not funny’. I suppose that freedom is the main thing.”

The only hint in the Doctor Who Series 12 trailer on the direction of the thirteenth Doctor’s series storyline is a voice-over of the Doctor saying, “Something’s coming for me. I can feel it.”

We will continue to bring you news on Doctor Who Series 12 as we learn more.

The January issue of SFX magazine hit newsstands on December 3.