Series 11 looks like it’s heading back to the shows roots as new showrunner Chris Chibnall aims to both entertain and educate audiences.
According to The Mirror, sources close to the show have said that Chibnall is keen to bring the show back to its 1960s roots when Sydney Newman intended it to be an educational series for children.
With that ethos in mind, the Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, will take new companions Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Yasmin (Mandip Gill) back in time to witness key historical events that are particularly relevant to their own ethnic backgrounds.
Be warned, there are potential spoilers up head (and keep your salt nearby for pinch or two).
The new series has already been filming in Cape Town, South Africa which doubled as 1950s America, where the Doctor will meet American civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who in 1955 famously refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger, sparking the beginning of the end for segregation – the sources go on to say that the new TARDIS crew will witness Alabama bus driver James F Blake telling Rosa to give up her seat, and her brave refusal.
That’s not all, the production crew are now heading off to India, where the TARDIS crew will find out more about the countries past and perhaps Yasmin’s own family heritage.
One source told The Mirror:
“The Doctor has all of space and time to explore so it’ll be fascinating to see the gang from 2018 having a good rummage around in big, important events which have changed the course of history.”
So, it looks like pure historical adventures are back on the agenda. Of course, when the show was launched in 1963, the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell, taught viewers about Marco Polo, the Aztecs, the crusades, the French Revolution and the Romans.
The one concern with the new historical episodes is that there maybe the temptation to include a typical Doctor Who plot (if there is such a thing) into the middle of an important historical moment – it might be a touch too disrespectful but it’s entirely dependent on the tone that the episodes will take.
As for the rest of the new series, The Mirror goes on to say that the structure of the new series will be three modern day episodes, three set in the future and three in the past.
Doctor Who will return this autumn on BBC One.
