Listen to the RadioTimes.com Doctor Who podcast – will coronavirus delay season 13?
With rumours that socially distanced filming could cause trouble for Doctor Who, we take a look at all the ways the pandemic could impact upcoming episodes.
How will the coronavirus pandemic affect Doctor Who? It’s the question we’ve been asking ourselves for months, with even more concerns raised when a BBC Wales boss recently suggested the show couldn’t "be made to the current standard in a socially distanced environment".
So are we in for a hiatus or delay in filming? Will the Doctor wear full PPE in the TARDIS? And is the time for endless stories featuring remote-control Daleks two metres away from Jodie Whittaker now here?
Currently, the BBC have said no decisions have been made – but in this week’s RadioTimes.com Doctor Who podcast we try our best to guess what could happen, considering all the limitations of socially distant filming (for a more in-depth guide, check out our feature about this wider issue) and whether the BBC might need to make cutbacks to make it work.
Could we see a shorter series? Smaller, studio-based episodes with fewer guest cast members? And what restrictions will travel bans put on Doctor Who’s globetrotting stories?
Later, we also ponder what impact the pandemic might have on the Doctor and her friends in the series itself – and whether the TARDIS might be giving 2020 a wide berth in the foreseeable future…
You can listen to the full podcast above, and check out previous Doctor Who filming stories here and here.
Want more Who chat? Last week’s episode about the new-look Daleks is also available online.
Doctor Who will return to BBC One with Revolution of the Daleks in late 2020/early 2021, with the festive special having completing shooting pre-lockdown as part of series 12 filming.
In April, Mandip Gill (who plays companion Yaz) told RadioTimes.com: "The conversations [about filming series 13] are probably happening somewhere else, and everyone is affected, so I guess we’re just going to have to wait for guidelines."
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Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
