The Thirteenth Doctor (2018-2022)
Season 37 Season Thirty-Seven (2018): The Ties That Bind
First appearances of Graham, Ryan, Yaz, Grace, Najia, Hakim, Sonya and the Stenza.


Special (2021): Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot
Special 
(2021)
Special 
(2019) Special (2019): Under A Blood Red Sky
Season Thirty-Nine (2021): Survivors Of The Flux
First appearance of Dan.
Season 39
Season 38 Season Thirty-Eight (2020): Travellers From An Antique Land
First appearances of the modern Master, the Fugitive Doctor and Tecteun.
Specials (2022): Viva La Vida
Including the BBC centenary special.
Specials (2022)

Season Thirty-Seven (2018): The Ties That Bind

The Doctor
The Thirteenth Doctor

Jodie Whittaker (bio) made her first appearance as the Doctor in Twice Upon A Time (December 2017) and her last in The Power Of The Doctor (October 2022).

Companions and Recurring Characters

A retired bus driver, Graham O'Brien was inspired by the spirit of adventure and zest for life of his late wife, Grace, as he joined the Doctor aboard the TARDIS.

Bradley Walsh (bio) made his first appearance as Graham in The Woman Who Fell To Earth (October 2018) and his last in The Power Of The Doctor (October 2022).

Graham O'Brien

Ryan Sinclair was young man who was contending with several challenges -- dyspraxia, an absentee father, and an uneasy relationship with his grandmother's new husband, Graham -- when a chance encounter with an alien artefact brought him into the Doctor's orbit.

Tosin Cole (bio) made his first appearance as Ryan in The Woman Who Fell To Earth (October 2018) and his last in Revolution Of The Daleks (January 2021).

Ryan Sinclair

A seemingly routine call for trainee police constable Yasmin Khan not only reunited her with her old school chum, Ryan, but also led to the first of many adventures with the Doctor.

Mandip Gill (bio) made her first appearance as Yaz in The Woman Who Fell To Earth (October 2018) and her last in The Power Of The Doctor (October 2022).

Yasmin Khan

Grace O'Brien's love for life served as an example for her husband, Graham, and her grandson, Ryan, even though her determination to help contributed to her death at the hands of the Stenza, Tzim-Sha.

Sharon D Clarke (bio) made her first appearance as Grace in The Woman Who Fell To Earth (October 2018) and her last in Revolution Of The Daleks (January 2021).

Grace O'Brien

Yaz's mother, Najia Khan, glimpsed her daughter's secret life when the luxury hotel where she had been employed as a general manager became overrun with enormous spiders.

Shobna Gulati (bio) made her first appearance as Najia in Arachnids In The UK (October 2018) and her last in Spyfall (January 2020).

Najia Khan

Hakim Khan was Yaz's well-meaning but sometimes exasperating father.

Ravin J Ganatra (bio) made his first appearance as Hakim in Arachnids In The UK (October 2018) and his last in Spyfall (January 2020).

Hakim Khan

Sonya Khan had a combative relationship with her sister, Yaz, but also helped save her life when she contemplated suicide three years before meeting the Doctor.

Bhavnisha Parmar (bio) made her first appearance as Sonya in Arachnids In The UK (October 2018) and her last in Flux (November 2021).

Sonya Khan

The Production Team

With Steven Moffat leaving Doctor Who after almost a decade at the show's helm, his successor as executive producer and showrunner was Chris Chibnall (bio), who had written a number of scripts for the series since 2007's 42, and had been the lead writer on the first two seasons of the spin-off series Torchwood.

The Stories
The Woman Who Fell To Earth
The Woman Who Fell To Earth by Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Childs
When Ryan Sinclair finds an alien pod in the woods near Sheffield, he summons trainee police officer Yasmin Khan to investigate. At almost the exact same time, his grandmother Grace and her husband Graham are on a train which experiences not one but two alien visitations: first a bio-mechanical cloud of tentacles, and then the semi-amnesiac Doctor, falling from the sky after being ejected from her exploding TARDIS. Even as she deals with the aftermath of her regeneration and the loss of her time machine, the Doctor sets out to stop an innocent human from becoming the victim of a merciless alien hunt.
After they help her defeat Tzim-Sha, the Doctor inadvertently teleports Ryan, Yasmin and Graham with her as she searches for the TARDIS.
The Ghost Monument
The Ghost Monument by Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Tonderai
The Doctor and her friends are rescued from an icy death in space by two pilots named Angstrom and Epzo, the final two competitors in a race across the galaxy. The final stage of their challenge takes them to a mysterious planet known only as Desolation, where even the water is lethal. Their destination is the Ghost Monument... which the Doctor soon realises must be her missing TARDIS. Reluctantly, the six join forces to cross Desolation and reach the Ghost Monument -- a journey which will force them to uncover the terrible fate of the people who once settled the planet.
Rosa
Rosa by Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall, directed by Mark Tonderai
The TARDIS arrives in Montgomery, Alabama on November 30th, 1955. The Doctor detects artron energy emissions, and becomes concerned that someone is trying to interfere with established history. December 1st, 1955 is the date of a landmark event in the history of American civil rights: seamstress Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white person. But even as the four friends begin to unravel the machinations of the time-travelling ciminal Krasko, they must also contend with the era's deeply-embedded racism -- a problem that even the Doctor can do little to confront.
Arachnids In The UK
Arachnids In The UK by Chris Chibnall, directed by Sallie Aprahamian
The Doctor brings her companions home to modern-day Sheffield. But while Graham confronts the loneliness of the home he once shared with Grace, the Doctor and Ryan stumble upon the corpse of Yaz's neighbour, covered in spiderwebs. They soon learn that arachnids across the region have been acting strangely in recent months, and the trail of clues leads to a new luxury hotel developed by businessman Jack Robertson, who has abruptly fired Yaz's mum from her position as its manager. Soon the time travellers find themselves trapped inside the building, surrounded by an army of giant spiders.
The Tsuranga Conundrum
The Tsuranga Conundrum by Chris Chibnall, directed by Jennifer Perrott
Injured on a junkyard planet in the 67th century, the TARDIS team wakes up on an emergency medical freighter in deep space. Also on board are a pregnant man named Yoss, who is grappling with giving his baby up for adoption, and decorated pilot Eve Cicero, whose android companion Ronan has been helping her hide the truth about her health from her brother Durkas. The ship's shields are soon penetrated by a Pting, a nigh-invulnerable creature capable of devouring any form of inorganic matter. As the Pting rampages through the freighter, only the Doctor and her friends can save the passengers from destruction.
Demons Of The Punjab
Demons Of The Punjab by Vinay Patel, directed by Jamie Childs
When her grandmother gifts her an old, broken wristwatch, Yaz becomes determined to learn more about her family's history. She convinces the Doctor to steer the TARDIS along the wristwatch's timeline, bringing the four friends to the Punjab in August 1947 during the violent partition of Pakistan from India. There Yaz discovers her grandmother about to marry a man who is not her grandfather, and the Doctor discovers that the region is being stalked by the Thijarians: legendary alien assassins. This time, however, the demons which need to be confronted may not be from outer space...
Kerblam!
Kerblam! by Pete McTighe, directed by Jennifer Perrott
For centuries, Kerblam! has been an interplanetary retail behemoth, teleporting goods of all sorts to shoppers across the galaxy. But when the Doctor receives a Kerblam! shipment, inside she finds a message pleading for help. To investigate, she, Graham, Ryan and Yaz pose as new employees at Kerblam! headquarters on the moon of Kandoka. No sooner have they arrived than they discover that members of the small human workforce have been going missing, while the moon itself has been experiencing strange power disruptions. Has the company been infiltrated by a saboteur, or is Kerblam! itself out to get them?
The Witchfinders
The Witchfinders by Joy Wilkinson, directed by Sallie Aprahamian
In the early 17th century, the Doctor and her friends arrive in the village of Bilehurst Cragg, in the shadow of the infamous Pendle Hill. The local landowner, Becka Savage, is convinced that Satanic forces have brought a plague of misfortune to the town, and is determined to eradicate the witches she believes are responsible. The Doctor intercedes only for Becka's crusade to gain support in the form of King James I, who is on a witch-hunting mission of his own. In the face of royal opposition, the TARDIS crew must uncover the truth about the strange events in Bilehurst Cragg, before more innocents are killed.
It Takes You Away
It Takes You Away by Ed Hime, directed by Jamie Childs
In a remote part of Norway, the Doctor and her friends discover a boarded-up cabin concealing a frightened blind girl named Hanne. Hanne's father, Erik, has gone missing, and monstrous noises echo from the surrounding woods. More strangely still, a mirror in Erik's bedroom acts as a portal into a weird realm of rocky passageways and lethal creatures. The Doctor, Graham and Yaz venture through the mirror in search of Erik, while Ryan finds himself uneasily thrust into the role of Hanne's protector. But in order to unravel the mystery, it is Graham who will be confronted with the most difficult choice of his life.
The Battle Of Ranskoor Av Kolos
The Battle Of Ranskoor Av Kolos by Chis Chibnall, directed by Jamie Childs
The TARDIS responds to distress signals from no fewer than nine different alien races, all being transmitted from the same part of the planet Ranskoor Av Kolos. There the time travellers meet Paltraki, the lone survivor of a terrible battle. But Paltraki's memory has been shredded by the violent psychotropic waves blanketing the planet. Only the Doctor and her friends can piece together the trail of clues and discover what is happening on Ranskoor Av Kolos. In order to do so, they must confront the mad god who rules that world: none other than Tzim-Sha, the Stenza warrior who killed Grace.

Making History

Much like 2010, Doctor Who changed almost completely for its return in 2018, from the cast and creative team to virtually every conceivable design element. The programme even moved away from its Saturday broadcast home, landing on Sunday evenings on an ongoing basis for the first time in its history. No change was more significant and controversial than the decision to cast Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor. But, in the end, the gamble proved to be tremendously successful: in spite of the continuing diversification of the television landscape, the season premiere, The Woman Who Fell To Earth, earned the highest ratings of any twenty-first-century Doctor's debut.

Special (2019): Under A Blood Red Sky

The Story
Resolution
Resolution by Chris Chibnall, directed by Wayne Yip
An archaeological dig in Sheffield uncovers the remains of a Dalek, buried since the 9th century when the combined armies of the Earth barely succeeded in defeating it. Accidentally revived, the Dalek takes control of Lin, one of the members of the dig team, and uses her to construct a new body for itself. The Doctor finds herself in a race against time to save Lin and prevent the Dalek from summoning an invasion fleet. But the Dalek is not the only old ghost who has appeared: Ryan and Graham must contend with their own past when Grace's son Aaron returns to celebrate the New Year with the family he has long neglected.

Making History

After thirteen consecutive Christmases, it was decided that Doctor Who's holiday special would move from Christmas 2018 to New Year's Day 2019. In recent years, January 1st had established itself as another popular day for television. With so many variations on a Yuletide theme having already been explored, it was hoped that the alternative broadcast date might provide Doctor Who with new storytelling opportunities while still capturing a substantial audience.

Season Thirty-Eight (2020): Travellers From An Antique Land

Companions and Recurring Characters

A more youthful incarnation of the Master also proved to be more bloodthirsty than his predecessors, his charisma and intellect balanced against a ruthless zeal for murder and chaos -- and an unprecedented determination to destroy the Doctor.

Sacha Dhawan (bio) made his first appearance as the Master in Spyfall (January 2020) and his last in The Power Of The Doctor (October 2022).

The Master

The so-called Fugitive Doctor was an incarnation of the Time Lord preceding the First Doctor, who worked for a covert organisation known as Division.

Jo Martin (bio) made her first appearance as the Fugitive Doctor in Fugitive Of The Judoon (January 2020) and her last in The Power Of The Doctor (October 2022).

The Fugitive Doctor

The Stories
Spyfall
Spyfall by Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone and Lee Haven Jones
Espionage agents of all nationalities are being attacked by mysterious alien entities, left comatose and corrupted at a genetic level. When MI6 summons the Doctor and her friends for assistance, they become targets as well. Ryan and Yaz go undercover to gather intelligence on wealthy businessman Daniel Barton, who was once an MI6 informant and was being investigated by all of the targeted agents. The Doctor and Graham seek the assistance of a former MI6 agent codenamed “O” who specialised in the unusual. But in a world of secrets and lies, can the Doctor trust anyone to be what they seem?
Orphan 55
Orphan 55 by Ed Hime, directed by Lee Haven Jones
Graham wins a trip to Tranquility, an all-inclusive resort in the far future. No sooner has the TARDIS crew begun to settle in and enjoy the amenities, however, than it becomes clear that the spa is in crisis. The Doctor discovers that Tranquility is actually housed on an “orphan” planet, abandoned by its original inhabitants after a nuclear holocaust. The surviving lifeforms on Orphan 55 are the monstrous Dregs, apex predators now determined to kill every vacationer on the resort. But the Dregs' incursion is just part of a larger scheme by a mysterious saboteur to ensure Tranquility's utter destruction...
Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror
Nikola Tesla's Night Of Terror by Nina Métivier, directed by Nida Manzoor
At the dawn of the twentieth century, visionary inventor Nikola Tesla struggles to gain the American public's confidence in the face of a withering public relations assault waged by his rival, Thomas Edison. To make matters worse, Tesla's Niagara Falls hydroelectric facility falls victim to an act of sabotage, which leads to a man's death. The only clue is a strange, floating green sphere, the presence of which draws the Doctor's attention -- just in time to save Tesla from an otherworldly attack. Is Edison behind the mysterious goings-on? And how are these events connected to the signals Tesla has detected from outer space?
Fugitive Of The Judoon
Fugitive Of The Judoon by Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall, directed by Nida Manzoor
When a Judoon platoon invades Gloucester, the Doctor races to identify the fugitive for whom they're hunting. Her investigation leads her to a tour guide named Ruth Clayton, who is unaware that her husband, Lee, is hiding a murky past. But when Ruth begans experiencing strange flashbacks to her childhood, the Doctor begins to suspect that there may be more to the Judoon mission than meets the eye. Meanwhile, Graham, Ryan and Yaz find themselves inadvertently teleported away from Earth by an old ally of the Doctor's, who bears a warning from the future.
Praxeus
Praxeus by Pete McTighe and Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone
In Peru, Ryan helps a travel vlogger search for her friend, who has vanished while camping in a devastated river valley. In Hong Kong, Yaz and Graham team up with a troubled police officer who is tracing the whereabouts of an astronaut who disappeared following the crash of his space shuttle. In Madagascar, a research scientist witnesses the Doctor save an American naval officer who has escaped from a doomed submarine -- only to watch as the man succumbs to a terrible infection. The TARDIS crew must uncover the connection between these events, before the entire human race succumbs to an alien virus called Praxeus.
Can You Hear Me?
Can You Hear Me? by Charlene James and Chris Chibnall, directed by Emma Sullivan
No sooner has the Doctor dropped her companions off in modern-day Sheffield to reconnect with their personal lives than the TARDIS is invaded by a sinister entity called Zellin. The Doctor heads to Syria in 1380 to investigate, and there finds a hospital which has been attacked by creatures out of nightmare. Meanwhile, Zellin makes his presence known to Yaz and Ryan, while Graham begins to experience visions of a mysterious woman, calling out for aid. The trail of clues leads the time travellers to a platform orbiting a devastated solar system and into the heart of an ancient trap.
The Haunting Of Villa Diodati
The Haunting Of Villa Diodati by Maxine Alderton, directed by Emma Sullivan
On the shores of Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816, Villa Diodati is playing host to some of the greatest literary minds of the nineteenth century. The Doctor and her friends arrive on a dark and stormy night, hoping to witness the birth of Mary Godwin's seminal novel Frankenstein, but instead they find dark deeds afoot. A vase smashes itself against a wall. A skeletal hand prowls the corridors. Spectres appear, then vanish. Soon, the very walls of Villa Diodati turn against its inhabitants. The key to the mystery seems to be a vision experienced by Mary's husband-to-be, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley; but he has disappeared...
Ascension Of The Cybermen / The Timeless Children
Ascension Of The Cybermen / The Timeless Children by Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone
The Doctor pursues Ashad, the Lone Cyberman, to the aftermath of the Great Cyberwar in the far future. There the TARDIS crew comes to the defense of a small group of human survivors, whose salvation appears to lie at the Boundary, a mysterious pathway across the universe. But the Master has subverted the Boundary, and uses it to lure the Doctor back to the ruins of Gallifrey. There he reveals that he has uncovered the secret history of the Time Lords: a hidden chronicle events that will make the Doctor question everything she's ever known about her people, and herself.

Making History

Doctor Who continued to shatter conventions during Season Thirty-Eight. The year began with two new episodes broadcast within the same week, for the first time since the period during the early Eighties when this was the standard transmission pattern. Sacha Dhawan was revealed as the newest Master, and the first person of colour to play the role. But perhaps an even more significant example of casting diversity arose in Prisoner Of The Judoon, in which Jo Martin was revealed to be playing a previously-unseen incarnation of the Doctor herself. From there, the season built to revelations about the nature of the Doctor and the Time Lords which significantly reshaped the programme's fictional continuity.

Special (2021): Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

The Story
Revolution Of The Daleks
Revolution Of The Daleks by Chris Chibnall, directed by Lee Haven Jones
With the Doctor missing for months, it's up to Graham, Ryan and Yaz to investigate footage of a prototype security drone that looks suspiciously like a Dalek. The robots are the work of their old foe, businessman Jack Robertson, who has allied himself with Jo Patterson, an unscrupulous politician with her eyes on Downing Street. But even Robertson is unaware of the scale of the Dalek scheme unfolding within his own facilities. And, when the Doctor is rescued from prison by Captain Jack Harkness, she may be forced to resort to a solution that's worse than the problem itself.
Ryan remains in Sheffield to continue building the life he made during the Doctor's imprisonment, and Graham decides to stay with his grandson.

Making History

The early months of 2020 saw the rapid and sudden escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the international upheaval, television production was severely curtailed. While the impact on Season Thirty-Nine would be significant, the preceding Doctor Who holiday special was recorded before the real-life global crisis struck. As such, the exits of Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole from the regular cast took place according to schedule, on New Year's Day 2021.

Season Thirty-Nine (2021): Survivors Of The Flux

Companions and Recurring Characters

Fiercely proud of his Liverpool origins and determined to put the welfare of others ahead of his own, Dan Lewis' adventures in the TARDIS provided him with a new outlet to help those in need.

John Bishop (bio) made his first appearance as Dan in Flux (October 2021) and his last in The Power Of The Doctor (October 2022).

Dan Lewis

The Story
Flux
Flux by Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone and Azhur Saleem
The Doctor's quest for information about Division is interrupted when a mysterious force called the Flux threatens to overwhelm the universe. Protected by the alien Lupari, Earth is one of the few worlds spared from the devastation. Taking advantage of the Flux are the Sontarans, who see an opportunity to conquer all that remains. Meanwhile the godlike Ravagers, Swarm and Azure, have escaped their aeons-long imprisonment. The Doctor confronts them in a place that should not exist: a planet called Time where she realises that, like Division, the Ravagers and the Flux are both linked to her own missing memories.

Making History

When television production resumed in the months following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it did so under strict limitations. As a result, Chris Chibnall heavily revised his designs for Season Thirty-Nine and, in the process, a number of planned stories were dropped. Instead, the season would consist of just six episodes -- the shortest in Doctor Who's history. Furthermore, they would comprise a single story, something previously attempted only with 1986's The Trial Of A Time Lord.

Specials (2022): Viva La Vida

The Stories
Eve Of The Daleks
Eve Of The Daleks by Chris Chibnall, directed by Annetta Laufer
The Doctor, Yaz and Dan arrive in the basement of a Manchester storage facility on New Year's Eve. The TARDIS is still corrupted by the effects of the Flux, but the Doctor's attempt to restore it inadvertently attracts the attention of a Dalek execution squad. Together with the facility's owner, Sarah, and her customer, Nick, the time travellers are quickly exterminated. But they suddenly discover that they are trapped in a time loop, which brings them back to life and offers them the chance of escaping their fate. However the time loop is steadily decaying and, if the Daleks aren't stopped, each death could be their last.
Legend Of The Sea Devils
Legend Of The Sea Devils by Ella Road and Chris Chibnall, directed by Haolu Wang
In 1807 China, pirate queen Madam Ching searches for the treasure of the Flor De La Mar, lost two and a half centuries earlier. Her quest leads her to a strange statue in a small village, where she inadvertently unleashes a long-dormant Sea Devil. The arrival of the Doctor, Yaz and Dan is greeted by horror at the Sea Devil's trail of slaughter -- and astonishment that it captains a pirate ship of its own! Forging an uneasy alliance with Madam Ching and the young Ying Ki, the statue's guardian, the time travellers must uncover the connection between the Sea Devil and the treasure's last owner: the legendary pirate Ji-Hun.
The Power Of The Doctor
The Power Of The Doctor by Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Magnus Stone
The Doctor, Yaz and Dan come to the aid of a space train besieged by Cybermen. But they are too late to prevent the capture of its cargo: a mythical Qurunx capable of generating colossal amounts of energy. The Cybermen are working for the Master, who has placed an artificial moon in orbit around Earth in 1916, where he is masquerading as Rasputin. Meanwhile, he has allied himself with the Daleks, who are working to force the eruption of every volcano on Earth. It will take the combined efforts of the TARDIS travellers of many eras to save the world -- and stop the Master's scheme to destroy not only the Doctor, but her legacy.
Dan decides it's time to leave the TARDIS; the Doctor returns Yaz to Earth, before regenerating after the Master mortally wounds her with the Qurunx.

Making History

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall had decided from the outset that they would make three seasons together and then leave Doctor Who. The disruptions and delays which the COVID-19 pandemic had imposed on Season Thirty-Nine prompted them to extend their tenures with a series of specials spread across 2022. The first was broadcast on New Year's Day and the second at Easter, before an October edition was timed to coincide with the BBC's centenary celebrations. Designed to showcase the breadth of Doctor Who history on BBC television, The Power Of The Doctor not only witnessed the Thirteenth Doctor's regeneration, but also included a plethora of references to the past, and especially to twentieth-century Doctor Who -- not least appearances by the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors.