Doctor Who Season 13 Teases Unprecedented Story And Game Of Thrones Alum, But What About Jodie Whittaker?

Yaz The Doctor and John Doctor Who BBC America

Doctor Who Season 13 has been in production for some time but, ahead of its release later this year, fans haven't learned much about this season. Finally though, the cast and showrunner Chris Chibnall made an appearance at SDCC@Home and revealed that Season 13 would feature an unprecedented story as well as a guest actor from Game of Thrones.

Of course, because this is Doctor Who, explicit details were scant. Chibnall did tease one specific change to Season 13 that sounded intriguing and could be significant considering this season has been rumored to be Jodie Whittaker's final season:

I can tell you that we pick it up with The Doctor and Yaz who've been traveling together for some time, and we come in and meet them mid-adventure. And then they stumble across a man called Dan Lewis. . .I can tell you that it's probably- the big thing that we're going to be doing this year is it's all one story. So every episode is a chapter in a bigger story. So we've changed the shape of the series for this year

Chris Chibnall explained that the decision to serialize the entirety of Doctor Who Season 13 into one big adventure was more out of necessity than anything. With COVID-19 protocols in place, he said the decision was to make several small episodes or do one big adventure. Obviously, the team decided to go with the latter and will tell a story that will stretch across the entirety of a Doctor Who season in a way no past season in the modern era has done before.

As previously mentioned, Doctor Who will feature a very special guest star from the world of Game Of Thrones, Jacob Anderson. Anderson played Grey Worm on the HBO series and will join Season 13 of Doctor Who as a character who will aid the Doctor and her companions in whatever they face in Season 13. Unfortunately, Chris Chibnall and the cast were tight-lipped about the actual contents of Season 13, which was of little surprise, but they did give us a cool picture of Anderson's character Vinder!

Vinder Jacob Anderson Doctor Who BBC America

Another thing the cast didn't speak a word about was whether or not Jodie Whittaker would still be The Doctor for a hypothetical Season 14. Rumors have run rampant that Whittaker will depart the series after a couple of specials that will follow Season 13 and that The Doctor will regenerate and be played by a new actor. The fact that the cast didn't address any of the speculation at all seems telling in and of itself because if she were staying, wouldn't they squash the rumors? Unfortunately, we can't say anything for sure and can only continue to speculate.

Doctor Who Season 13 is set to arrive on BBC America later this year. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more updates on Jodie Whittaker's status with the show and read up on some of the popular names who've been floated so far for her potential replacement.

Mick Joest
Content Producer

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.