Development The thirteenth series had entered development by November 2019, before the
twelfth series premiered. In December of the same year, the ScreenSkills initiative announced an opportunity for an emerging writer to get a
bursary and develop a
spec script for an episode of the series, though with no guarantee of it eventually entering production. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic's impact on television, the series' production included only eight episodes. This was reduced from the previous eleven, with six episodes designated to the thirteenth series and an
additional two specials airing the following year (as well as the BBC centenary special "
The Power of the Doctor"). Chibnall would also later reveal on the
Radio Free Skaro podcast that the series only narrowly escaped cancellation, with him and Whittaker turning down other job offers to make it work; he stated that there were times when the series was not going to be made and even one hour, at the least, when the series had effectively been axed. The last episode of the
three associated specials, which aired in 2022, would be Whittaker and Chibnall's last as star and executive producer respectively, with both Whittaker and Chibnall announcing their intention to leave the programme in July 2021, near the end of filming. Chibnall stated that both he and Whittaker had originally agreed to only do three series, and that "now our shift is done, and we're handing back the Tardis keys". Series composer
Segun Akinola also left, saying that he planned to leave alongside the pair.
Writing In April 2020, Chibnall confirmed that writing for the series had commenced and continued remotely throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic. Chibnall wrote all six episodes of the completed series, co-writing the fourth episode with
Maxine Alderton. Alderton, who had previously written for the twelfth series episode "
The Haunting of Villa Diodati", was originally scheduled to be a major writer for the series, with
Ed Hime and
Pete McTighe, both of whom had written for the eleventh and twelfth series, also writing episodes. Series newcomer
Inua Ellams was additionally involved during the earlier remote stage of writing. However, Chibnall later told
Doctor Who Magazine that though they originally had some great writers scheduled, with the series changing into one single serial with fewer episodes, the plans were greatly changed to minimize turnaround. Whittaker stated that in the series, the Doctor is "faced with a temptation of delving into the mysteries of her past", because "it's hard to go forward, if you don't know where you have come from". She stated that the series has labyrinthine layers, with the revelations spread out, as well as epic dramatic levels. She also liked working with recurring aliens such as the
Ood, the
Sontarans, and especially the
Weeping Angels. Chibnall stated that he wondered if people would expect that the series would begin with a sequence in a single room; he decided to open big by doing the "biggest action-effects sequence the show has ever done". He decided to start the sequence in medias res, to imply that Yaz and the Doctor have had many adventures since the end of the previous series. He also stated that he wanted to use more "studio-based spectacular set-pieces", to fill the lack of exotic locations due to COVID. The sequence was a combination of green-screen mixed with a CGI background, and VFX. The
Cybermen and
Daleks also made brief appearances.
Filming According to production executive
Tracie Simpson, pre-production for the thirteenth series was originally set to begin in June 2020, with filming set for September 2020; however filming only eventually commenced in November 2020, and ran for ten months, even during the time the series trailer was dropped in July 2021 at
San Diego Comic-Con. Stone stated in an interview that directing for the series felt different because of the serialisation and the lockdown. He praised the plan of the serialisation, as it allowed for more ambitious set builds, while reducing the use of interior locations. According to him, COVID presented some "curveballs" as well, due to cases causing crew shuffling, and the need to shoot it single-camera as opposed to multi-camera. He also said that because it was Whittaker's last series, he wanted to "do it justice". Stone also stated in a different interview that having to shoot at, or close to, location, gave the series a different mood, with the harshness of the November and December weather making the battle sequence in episode two feel even more realistic. Production blocks were arranged as follows: "Village of the Angels" was filmed separately from the other two episodes in the block, due to a late finalisation of the script. as he left and was replaced by his predecessor
Murray Gold. In an interview with
Doctor Who Magazine, Akinola revealed how he had composed the music for series 13. He stated that he knew that working on series 13 would be different due both to Covid and it being serialised. According to him, for self-contained episodes, the story would have a "beginning, middle and end", which the music needs to convey; Flux forced him to alter his workload- because most of the themes had to be introduced in the beginning, especially the first episode itself. He said he enjoyed making the themes for the new guest stars, and making them fit in the overall 'serial' sound. He explained that since he began working with the show, each series' soundtrack had been an evolution of the previous one, with the serial format leading to an even bigger change. He explained his creative process: he first composed themes for the series, and for the Doctor and her companions, with each episodic theme distinct and usually centered on the villain of the story. For Flux's serial format, he stated that he had to change it up- the episodic themes were composed to be similar in nature and flow into each other; any difference in the music elements was also emphasised in the series' theme for the episode. Speaking of Flux in particular, Akinola stated that the changes they made included a greater use of
synth, which they also used in a more foregrounded way, and the use of orchestral elements in each and every episode. The social distancing required made him use experiment with his use of string instruments, with a greater use of brass, and the experimental combining of string and audio manipulation. Akinola felt that this helped heighten the "tension and suspense" and helped achieve a larger-scale sound. Akinola himself played the piano, which he featured more, and with a greater spread, which means he usually "pops up" somewhere on the scores. == Release ==