Surprising ‘Doctor Who’ series 11 air date confirmed

Doctor Who will land the TARDIS back on telly on October 7, when Jodie Whittaker makes her debut in season 11.

That means that, for the first time since the show came back in 2005, Doctor Who is moving from Saturday evenings to Sunday nights.

Sure, the move has been rumoured for a while, but it’s still shocking – with most expecting the BBC to treat the first female Doctor in the same way as they have the male Doctors, rather than ‘othering’ the character by putting her into a less competitive slot.

Still, showrunner Chris Chibnall is excited. “New Doctor, new home! Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor is about to burst into Sunday nights — and make the end of the weekend so much more exciting.

“Get everybody’s homework done, sort out your Monday clothes, then grab some special Sunday night popcorn, and settle down with all of the family for Sunday night adventures across space and time. (Also, move the sofa away from the wall so parents can hide behind it during the scary bits). The Thirteenth Doctor is falling from the sky and it’s going to be a blast.”

And the response has been mostly positive.

And we also have the title of the premiere to theorise about: ‘The Woman Who Fell To Earth’.

Does this mean that we’ll be getting more earth-bound adventures for our new Doctor? Makes sense, as she’s got to form her gang of companions – perhaps the first half of the season will see the Doctor fixing her TARDIS / making pals, before flying off into space for the back-half of series 11.

And the new time slot does make sense for the fresh take on the character – which feels very much designed to bring in a new audience. “We’ve got 10 standalone stories,” Chibnall said last month at San Diego Comic-Con. “Lots of new villains, lots of new characters for you to fall in love with…

“This year is the perfect jumping-on point for that person in your life who has never watched Doctor Who. There is no barrier to entry this year. When a new Doctor comes in, with new friends, it’s a great moment to bring everybody on board.”

While part of us does wish the new Doctor was playing by the same rules as the old Doctors – proving the haters wrong when she shatters all previous viewing figures – we’re just happy she’s coming back at all.

Read more
‘Doctor Who’: Everything we learned about Series 11 at SDCC 2018
‘Doctor Who’: Breaking down the new trailer for Jodie Whittaker’s first season as the Thirteenth Doctor
Doctor Who s11 is “fizzing with wonder”, Jodie says