The BBC sure does love to keep us waiting. The broadcasting institution has a long history of waiting until the last minute to announce premiere dates, particularly for high profile shows like ‘Doctor Who.’ Ostensibly, this is intended to make it harder for competitors like ITV to counterprogram, but really I think they just like to tease us. Sometimes that wait for announcements can feel interminable. And this year is one of those times. With the show not only getting a new star and supporting cast but also a new showrunner and the array of fresh creative voices that come with that, anticipation is certainly at a high. And while we’ve had a handful of trailers, watched as the cast and crew attended San Diego Comic-Con, and even seen the redesigned sonic screwdriver, they pointedly kept us in the dark about the show’s premiere date. But now the wait is finally over.
We’d speculated previously that ‘Doctor Who’ would be on the air in early October (specifically, “no later than October 20th). This was based on the BBC’s earlier confirmation that the show’s tradition of Christmas specials would continue this year, plus some simple math on our part. Turns out we were more or less on the money. Through a short video posted on Twitter, the BBC has, at last, announced the premiere date for the eleventh season of ‘Doctor Who’. The official word, then, is that the season will kick off on Sunday, October 7, 2018.
Barring any gap weeks, an October 7th premiere means that the ten episode season will wrap up by December 9th, giving us a break of just over two weeks before the Christmas special.
But the premiere date wasn’t the only nugget of ‘Doctor Who’ news the BBC dropped today. In a later tweet, the Beeb announced the title of the season’s first episode, which will be dubbed ‘The Woman Who Fell To Earth’. And if you’re anything like us, you’re probably thinking back to last Christmas’s regeneration scene and saying to yourself, “Well of course it is.”
Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on the upcoming season of ‘Doctor Who’ as it becomes available!
‘Doctor Who’ will return later this year for its eleventh season. This season will see the arrival of new showrunner Chris Chibnall and the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. In addition to Whittaker, the new season will star Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gil.
