In-person cancellations have not kept every event this summer from canceling entirely. One of those is typically one of the summer’s biggest events, San Diego Comic-Con. As with last year’s Comic-Con At Home, events for SDCC 2021 are proceeding this week, once again providing a rare opportunity for fans of all things pop culture a chance to sit through the kinds of panels you might see were you to attend in person in any regular year–without standing overnight in lines. You can even grab a lanyard off the rack, print your own badge (for you and your pets), cosplay with your family, and load the panels up on as big of a screen as you have. Check out some suggestions for building your own fun convention week experience with SDCC 2021 below.
The best of British genre fare collided New Year’s Day as the new season of Doctor Who got underway. Merging a classic type Doctor Whoadventure with James Bond tropes made for what might be the best episode of Doctor Who since Matt Smith handed over his sonic screwdriver. But that’s only the beginning, as the two-part opener continues tonight on BBC America in the States and much earlier in the UK on BBC One. U.S. viewers have one chance to beat the social media spoilers: Fathom Events is hosting a unique Doctor Who event nationwide today at 1 p.m. local time, a theater broadcast of Spyfall–the New Year’s Day episode and the worldwide premiere of part two–complete with a live Q&A with the cast. Check out the Fathom Events website here for details.
Doctor Whoshowrunner Chris Chibnall had a full season to iron out the transition to a new Doctor, and if you didn’t watch the entire first season now is a good time to jump back in, because this adventure starts strong with high stakes, a new alien threat, non-stop action, and an echo from Doctor Who of the past. It all plays out like an episode written by either Russell T. Davies or Stephen Moffat, but it’s Chibnall who wrote this story. A new favorite scene can be found in the New Year’s Day Spyfall episode: It’s hard to imagine any prior Doctor could have nailed the scene where the Doctor takes on a 007-inspired role, and plays a high roller hand at cards trying to be as cool as Bond–but not quite getting there. Jodie Whittaker has the enthusiasm of David Tennant, the innocence of Matt Smith, and the daftness of Peter Capaldi, all rolled up into one. And she’s brilliant in this first episode, even better than last year.
This Doctor doesn’t need a companion any different from the twelve Doctors that preceded her, yet this new triumvirate companion works–it’s a family, or “fam” as she calls them and a mechanism to allow a distribution of the action. Yasmin (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole), Graham (Bradley Walsh) join the Doctor on her latest travels at the request of MI 6, and a guest appearance by Stephen Fry as C (think M in the Bond stories) and Sacha Dhawan as O (another 00 agent). It’s hard to believe it’s actually been a year since we last saw them all together in the Season 11 finale.
Following up on the first trailer that premiered this year at San Diego Comic-Con, today BBC released the next look at the new 11th season/11th series for Doctor Who. In case you missed it, we included the first trailer below, which was embedded in the Comic-Con panel video coverage here.
You’ll find more of Jodie Whittaker as the new, 13th Doctor. And more of her new companions played by Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, and Tosin Cole.
That’s the trouble with regeneration… you never quite know what you’re going to get!
Some things are worth stopping the presses for. This time it’s a review copy of the forthcoming first issue out of the gates for Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor–Issue #0. If you’re already a fan of the 55-year-old sci-fi television series and especially if you haven’t yet jumped on the Whovian bandwagon, there’s no better way to start than with this unprecedented voyage across time. It stars all twelve regular series Time Lords plus the War Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness, River Song, and plenty of companions, all intertwined as the new Thirteenth Doctor readies to emerge from her latest regeneration. With so many reboots and remakes these days with new actors that arrive with a bit of a resounding jolt, it’s Doctor Who that best found a way to overcome the need to replace actors over time. And that mechanism was regenerating from one human form to another.
Few events are as significant in pop culture as the introduction of Jodie Whittaker as the first woman Doctor this year. In this first issue of a new monthly series, the Doctor relives previously unseen adventures from each of her past lives. The result is a book full of great Easter Eggs and special references for passing fans and diehards alike. And every incarnation of the Doctor is featured in the story by Richard Dinnick with a different well-known comic book artist re-creating the changing TARDIS, sonic screwdrivers, a companion or two, and even more fan-favorite supporting characters. Along with Dinnick’s great voice for each incarnation of the Doctor, each artist puts a special twist on their part of the story. This may be one of the biggest comic book issues of the year, to prep you for what will be without a doubt pop culture’s biggest television event of the year.
Here’s a new image promoting the new series just released by the BBC, featuring stars Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, and Tosin Cole:
So get ready for some exciting imagery in the new Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor, Issue #0, from artists Rachael Stott, Mariano Laclaustra, Georgia Sposito, Arriana Florean, Claudia Ianniciello, Iolanda Zanfardino, Brian Williamson, Carlos Cabrera, and more. And borg.com readers get a first look right now with preview pages from this landmark story, courtesy of Titan Comics. Check it out:
The next season of Doctor Who will be a season of firsts–with the first woman to play the Doctor: Jodie Whittaker, two companions of color: Mandip Gill’s Yasmin and Tosin Cole’s Ryan, and the first scripts from writers of color in the series’ 55 year history. Whittaker, Gill, and Ryan joined new showrunner Chris Chibnall and executive producer Matt Strevens in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con Friday for the first public event featuring the new cast and crew for fans. They revealed no spoilers for the season but provided a first look and feel for the characters and approach for this next season. Only one of the three actors playing a new companion, Bradley Walsh, could not attend the panel, but provided a brief video message during the panel.
“The thing about this role, which is why it’s so amazing for any actor to play the role, is that essentially gender isn’t relevant, and that’s completely liberating,” Whittaker said at an SDCC press event. “I have never approached a role thinking, ‘How would a woman play this role?’ I just am one. I don’t think a guy has ever thought, ‘How do I play a guy in this scene?’ – you just are… So essentially my energy, my approach to this, is coming from a very instinctive place, which is genderless to me. The best thing about the Doctor is I’m not playing either–I’m an alien.”
Courtesy of BBC America, you can watch the entire hour-long panel from Friday showing the first public appearance of Whittaker as the new Doctor right now, along with a preview of Whittaker and three new companions in some clips from the upcoming season. Check it out:
BBC and BBC America just released a photo of new stars of the next Doctor Who series featuring the previously announced 13th Doctor, to be played by Jodie Whittaker (Attack the Block, Broadchurch). Peter Capaldi’s last outing as the 12th Doctor will be during this year’s annual Doctor Who Christmas Special. This weekend new showrunner Chris Chibnall provided actor and character names and discussed his excitement taking on the role as caretaker of the UK’s oldest genre franchise along with three new cast members. The next season will offer ten episodes, but won’t be broadcast until late next year.
Television actor Bradley Walsh (Law & Order: UK) will join Whitaker’s Doctor as a character named Graham, along with Tosin Cole (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Ryan, and Mandip Gill (Hollyoaks) as Yasmin. According to the BBC these are the “three new companions,” and Sharon D. Clarke (Waking the Dead) will also appear as an unnamed character.
“The new Doctor is going to need new friends,” said Chibnall. “We’re thrilled to welcome Mandip, Tosin, and Bradley to the Doctor Who family. They’re three of Britain’s brightest talents and we can’t wait to see them dive into brand new adventures with Jodie’s Doctor. Alongside them, we’re delighted that Sharon D. Clarke is also joining the show.”
Prolific stage actress Sharon D. Clarke will appear on the new Doctor Who series.
Bradley Walsh added his recollections of watching the original series. “I remember watching William Hartnell as the first Doctor. Black and white made it very scary for a youngster like myself. I was petrified, but even though I’d watch most of it from behind the sofa through my fingers, I became a fan. I then queued up for ages to get into the Carlton picture house in Watford to watch the great Peter Cushing appear as the Doctor in a full-length feature film made in glorious color (Doctor Who and the Daleks, 1965). Am I thrilled to be part of this whole ground breaking new dawn for the Doctor?? Oh yes!”
