Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, HBO, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: bbc, bleeding cool, cable, doctor, doctor who, international women's day, jodie whittaker, Mandip Gill, preview, series 13, streaming, teaser, television, trailer, tv, Yaz

Doctor Who Celebrates Int'l. Women's Day with New Doctor, Yaz Image

As production continues on the eagerly-awaited Doctor Who Series 13 (reportedly seeing the light of day sometime this year), the BBC celebrated International Women's Day on Monday by releasing a look at the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and Yaz (Mandip Gill). With Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole having officially moved out of the TARDIS and new companion Dan (John Bishop) coming aboard as a new companion, it just felt like the right time to recognize the show's two symbols of strength and consistency. In addition, the Radio Times asked a number of women associated with the long-running series to offer their thoughts on the importance of International Women's Day and what the long-running series has done to recognize the contributions of women.

International Women's Day to me is a day to celebrate women's progression politically, socially, and economically. It's also a day for us as a whole to recognise the further improvements needed. Ultimately it's about the celebration of women. 'Doctor Who' saw what most people could see, in that it wasn't an equal playing field. They absolutely took a stand in changing the space to one much more equal by having Jodie as the Doctor. This challenged things that were just a given and showed the audience why we should continually challenge these structures and roles," Gill wrote. "From the first meeting, I knew the significance of this change to 'Doctor Who' history and knew I wanted to be a part of that change. You could feel the significance and positive energy of what was to come from my first audition with Jodie. Personally, I love the weight of being a south Asian female companion and do hope young people take inspiration from my role in 'Doctor Who' as I did watching the cast of 'Goodness Gracious Me.'"

As we mentioned earlier, showrunner Chris Chibnall and the team are already hard at work on Series 13 production, revealing earlier this year, "We're filming as we speak. We've got lots of new characters, new monsters, some old ones coming back. We're only a few weeks in. It's very different, but we obviously have to work in a very different way, under COVID protocols. So, it's not without its challenges, but every series of 'Doctor Who' has had its challenges. At the moment, everybody's smiling." Now for the question that we're sure he's going to hear a lot over the next several months: so when will viewers be able to see it? Surprisingly, it sounds like Chibnall does know- it's just that there are some "higher powers" out there who would prefer he stay quiet for now. "Yeah, I've got an idea," Chibnall answered with a laugh. "But Charlotte Moore (BBC Chief Content Officer) would send 'the boys' round if I told you any hints. As soon as finish it, I promise we'll put it on telly straight away."

And even though their "Revolution" may be over (for now), is there any possibility of seeing the domed big-bads make a return in Series 13? Chibnall wouldn't say one way or another- but he did confirm that some familiar faces of the monster persuasion will be making their returns. "Yes, more monsters are coming back. There are ones who've appeared over the past 15 years that are deserving of another visit in the next series. In fact, they're probably formulating their plans as we speak…"

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