Thanks to the special Comic-Con edition of Entertainment Weekly, we’ve finally got some fresh news about the long-awaited eleventh season of Doctor Who. Following her brief first scene at the end of 2017 Christmas special “Twice Upon a Time,” the new run will see Jodie Whittaker make her full debut as the Thirteenth Doctor. What’s more, Chris Chibnall is stepping in as showrunner so the sci-fi series will truly be undergoing a complete regeneration.
Fans are eager to find out what season 11 will be like, then, as the new lead and writing team is sure to give it a rejuvenated tone and spirit. While speaking with EW, Whittaker herself was on hand to tease that the watchwords of this new era of Doctor Who will be “wonder” and “hope.” She also joked that she has to speak “a hundred miles an hour” when in character as the Time Lord Lady.
“Well, I would say that [the series is] hopeful and fizzing with wonder. I have absolutely shot myself in the foot for any ADR [Additional Dialogue Recording], because I get in there, and realise I speak at a hundred miles an hour. If a plane goes over I’m like, ‘Are you kidding?’ I’ve got to try and match that speech of ‘Di-didda-di-didda-di-didda’? But essentially I think the big theme is hope!”
In addition to what Whittaker’s said here, we’ve previously heard that “family” will be another key word that sums up the approach of season 11, as the term refers to both the surrogate family dynamic of the new TARDIS team and also the renewed decision to gear the show towards an all-inclusive family audience.
Speaking of the new TARDIS team, Whittaker will be joined on her adventures throughout time and space by Bradley Walsh as Graham, Mandip Gill as Yasmin and Tosin Cole as Ryan. The latter two stars, along with Whittaker, Chibnall and EP Matt Strevens, will be attending SDCC next week, where BBC America’s Doctor Who panel in Hall H is pencilled in for Thursday, July 19th – so you can expect a lot more season 11 news to drop at that point.