Just a few months away from the "Doctor Who" Christmas special and fans are already excited for the upcoming 11th series of the long-running show. Reports have already been circulating that the new season of "Doctor Who" will bring in a new showrunner as well as a new Doctor. There are other changes that will also be made.
The current season of "Doctor Who" serves to be Peter Capaldi's last run as the iconic time lord from Gallifrey, and he will be bidding farewell to the series during the upcoming Christmas special in December. Jodie Whitaker has been announced as the newest Doctor and the first female Doctor at that. Chris Chibnall will be taking over the show as its showrunner, replacing Steven Moffat as well.
Other than changes in main personnel, the show's format is also going to undergo some changes. As reported by the Mirror, the interior of the Doctor's TARDIS will have a complete makeover. This is not exactly surprising as the interior of the time machine changes with every Doctor ever since the concept of regeneration was introduced. The same goes for the sonic screwdriver.
To add to that, the individual episodes of the season will have an extended runtime. Instead of the usual 45 minutes, it will now be 60 minutes. The downside to the extended runtime is a shorter season, so instead of the usual 12 episodes, it will be narrowed down to 10 plus a Christmas special.
These changes are only rumored for now, but it is not a far-off idea to see the TARDIS get a makeover right away after the Twelfth Doctor regenerates. Still, if these changes are confirmed, then a lot of fans will be happy to see some more stories and characters getting some good development.
Meanwhile, Karen Gillan, who played the Doctor's eventual mother-in-law, Amy Pond, shared her thoughts regarding Jodie Whitaker being the Thirteenth Doctor. Speaking to Den of Geek, Gillan expressed her enthusiasm for having a female Doctor. She also revealed that the topic of a female Doctor would come up in conversations during her time on the show from 2009 to 2012.
Gillan said that it was something that people talked about regularly and that it would come up every so often and people had their own opinions on whether that would work or not. She went on to say that she is glad that "Doctor Who" has gone in that direction.
"The fact that we're even having a discussion as to whether a woman can play the role or not tells me that there's still something wrong here. Because of course a woman can play the role; it's not defined by gender and we're definitely about to find that out, I think," explained Gillan.
When asked how Amy would react to the Doctor now being a Raggedy Woman instead of a Raggedy Man, Gillan said that Amy would be very confused by that. However, the actress went on to say that Amy would probably think that the Doctor's sudden change into a woman was kind of cool.
For now, fans can watch Peter Capaldi in his last episode of "Doctor Who" in the Christmas special titled "Twice Upon a Time" on Dec. 25.
