Doctor Who series 13
The thirteenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, known collectively as Flux, was broadcast from 31 October to 5 December 2021. The series is the third and last to be led by Chris Chibnall as head writer and executive producer. It is the thirteenth to air following the programme's revival in 2005, and the thirty-ninth season overall. The series, initially announced in November 2019, was the last to be broadcast on Sunday nights, continuing the trend set by the previous two series. It was followed by three associated specials, all of which aired in 2022.
Jodie Whittaker returns for her third and final series as the Thirteenth Doctor, an incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in her ship, the TARDIS, which externally assumes the appearance of a British police box. The thirteenth series also stars Mandip Gill and John Bishop as the Doctor's travelling companions, playing Yasmin Khan and Dan Lewis, respectively. The series follows the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions as they navigate a universe-ending anomaly called the "Flux", while dealing with enemies and secrets from the Doctor's past.
The series consists of six episodes, which form a single story across the series. The six episodes were directed by Jamie Magnus Stone and Azhur Saleem; Stone returned from directing for the previous series, with Saleem directing as a new contributor. Chibnall wrote all six episodes of the series, co-writing one episode with Maxine Alderton, who also returned after writing for the previous series. Filming commenced in November 2020, and was completed by August 2021. The series has received generally positive reviews from critics.
Episodes
For the first time since The Trial of a Time Lord, and the third time in the programme's history, the series tells one complete story across its entirety, rather than self-contained episodic stories. It is the second time where all episodes are encompassed by a single story number; The Key to Time maintained separate serial designations.Casting
The series is the third to feature Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. Mandip Gill also returns as Yasmin Khan. Following the departures of Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole in "Revolution of the Daleks", John Bishop joined the cast for the series as Dan Lewis.Jacob Anderson appears in a recurring role as Vinder. Jo Martin returned as the Fugitive Doctor in "Once, Upon Time", having last appeared in the twelfth series episodes "Fugitive of the Judoon" and "The Timeless Children". Additionally Jemma Redgrave reprises her role as Kate Stewart, a recurring character alongside the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, who was last seen in "The Zygon Invasion" / "The Zygon Inversion". Also appearing in recurring roles throughout the series are Thaddea Graham as Vinder's paramour Bel, Craige Els as the Lupari Karvanista, Rochenda Sandall and Sam Spruell as the villainous Ravagers Azure and Swarm, Annabel Scholey as Claire, and Kevin McNally as Professor Jericho.
Other guest actors in the series include Craig Parkinson as the Grand Serpent, Sara Powell as Mary Seacole, Gerald Kyd as General Logan, Penelope Ann McGhie as Mrs Hayward, Steve Oram as Joseph Williamson, Nadia Albina as Diane, Jonathan Watson as Commander Riskaw and Skaak, and Paul Broughton as Neville.
Production
Development
The thirteenth series had entered development by November 2019, before the twelfth series premiered. In December of the same year, the ScreenSkills initiative announced an opportunity for an emerging writer to get a bursary and develop a spec script for an episode of the series, though with no guarantee of it eventually entering production. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on television, the series' production included only eight episodes. This was reduced from the previous eleven, with six episodes designated to the thirteenth series and an additional two specials airing the following year. Chibnall said that there were times when they thought they would be unable to do the show under COVID conditions, and because the only other alternative was "tiny little episodes in one room, with no monsters", they decided to do the biggest story they had done in their time on the series.Chibnall would also later reveal on the Radio Free Skaro podcast that the series only narrowly escaped cancellation, with him and Whittaker turning down other job offers to make it work; he stated that there were times when the series was not going to be made and even one hour, at the least, when the series had effectively been axed.
The last episode of the three associated specials, which aired in 2022, would be Whittaker and Chibnall's last as star and executive producer respectively, with both Whittaker and Chibnall announcing their intention to leave the programme in July 2021, near the end of filming. Chibnall stated that both he and Whittaker had originally agreed to only do three series, and that "now our shift is done, and we're handing back the Tardis keys". Series composer Segun Akinola also left, saying that he planned to leave alongside the pair.
Writing
In April 2020, Chibnall confirmed that writing for the series had commenced and continued remotely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Chibnall wrote all six episodes of the completed series, co-writing the fourth episode with Maxine Alderton. Alderton, who had previously written for the twelfth series episode "The Haunting of Villa Diodati", was originally scheduled to be a major writer for the series, with Ed Hime and Pete McTighe, both of whom had written for the eleventh and twelfth series, also writing episodes. Series newcomer Inua Ellams was additionally involved during the earlier remote stage of writing. However, Chibnall later told Doctor Who Magazine that though they originally had some great writers scheduled, with the series changing into one single serial with fewer episodes, the plans were greatly changed to minimize turnaround. McTighe and Ellams would eventually return to write episodes for the fifteenth series, following Chibnall's departure.Whittaker stated that in the series, the Doctor is "faced with a temptation of delving into the mysteries of her past", because "it's hard to go forward, if you don't know where you have come from". She stated that the series has labyrinthine layers, with the revelations spread out, as well as epic dramatic levels. She also liked working with recurring aliens such as the Ood, the Sontarans, and especially the Weeping Angels.
Chibnall stated that he wondered if people would expect that the series would begin with a sequence in a single room; he decided to open big by doing the "biggest action-effects sequence the show has ever done". He decided to start the sequence in medias res, to imply that Yaz and the Doctor have had many adventures since the end of the previous series. He also stated that he wanted to use more "studio-based spectacular set-pieces", to fill the lack of exotic locations due to COVID. The sequence was a combination of green-screen mixed with a CGI background, and VFX.
The Cybermen and Daleks also made brief appearances.
Filming
According to production executive Tracie Simpson, pre-production for the thirteenth series was originally set to begin in June 2020, with filming set for September 2020; however filming only eventually commenced in November 2020, and ran for ten months, even during the time the series trailer was dropped in July 2021 at San Diego Comic-Con. Jamie Magnus Stone directed the first, second, and fourth episodes, and Azhur Saleem directed the third, fifth, and sixth. Filming for the six episodes of the series, along with two of the 2022 specials, had concluded by the end of July 2021.Stone stated in an interview that directing for the series felt different because of the serialisation and the lockdown. He praised the plan of the serialisation, as it allowed for more ambitious set builds, while reducing the use of interior locations. According to him, COVID presented some "curveballs" as well, due to cases causing crew shuffling, and the need to shoot it single-camera as opposed to multi-camera. He also said that because it was Whittaker's last series, he wanted to "do it justice". Stone also stated in a different interview that having to shoot at, or close to, location, gave the series a different mood, with the harshness of the November and December weather making the battle sequence in episode two feel even more realistic.
Production blocks were arranged as follows:
| Block | Episodes | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 1 | Episode 1: "The Halloween Apocalypse" | Jamie Magnus Stone | Chris Chibnall | Nikki Wilson |
| 1 | Episode 2: "War of the Sontarans" | Jamie Magnus Stone | Chris Chibnall | Nikki Wilson |
| 1 | Episode 4: "Village of the Angels" | Jamie Magnus Stone | Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton | Nikki Wilson |
| 2 | Episode 3: "Once, Upon Time" | Azhur Saleem | Chris Chibnall | Pete Levy |
| 2 | Episode 5: "Survivors of the Flux" | Azhur Saleem | Chris Chibnall | Pete Levy |
| 2 | Episode 6: "The Vanquishers" | Azhur Saleem | Chris Chibnall | Pete Levy |
"Village of the Angels" was filmed separately from the other two episodes in the block, due to a late finalisation of the script.
Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine, Stone and Saleem both stated that they liked working with the "Weeping Angels", because of a reversal which puts editing and negative spaces in the forefront of their terror.
Stone described a trick-shot, involving a mirror in episode four, which he felt really proud of. He filmed Scholey as Claire looking at her double through a mirror, which was moved in that single shot to Claire's face, while a statue was moved by the crew behind her, something they did throughout the episode. Stone stated that it allowed for extra tension, because the Angels moved not only on blinking, but whenever they moved out of focus. Saleem, just like Stone, liked the mirror shot, stating that shooting and witnessing Whittaker and Martin mirroring each other was, despite being "a simple thing", a "joy to witness". He stated that his block of filming lasted for 15 weeks.