Rumour: Another Doctor Who “Gap Year” Coming – No Series 12 Until 2020?

A rumour is circulating social media this week suggesting that Doctor Who may face another “gap year” after Series 11 concludes airing.

The source appeared to originate from a newspaper clipping of The Mirror. No online article has been posted at the time of writing.

The report claims that Series 12 (which has yet to be officially announced) might not air until 2020, due to filming delays.

It says in full:

Doctor Who fans arc facing a ’gap year” with no series to watch during 2019, after filming was pushed back by more than three months.

Viewers of the hit sci-fi show could be in for a long wait to see Jodie Whittaker, 35, return for a second innings as the Time Lord, once the current series ends in December.

While writer Chris Chibnall has penned most of series two, filming on the BBC1 show is not due to restart until the New Year.

A source said: “It looks far more likely that the next run will air in winter or spring 2020. There simply isn’t time to finish filming and get all the editing done before next October. It’s too tight. We’re facing a gap year.’’

A BBC source said that no scheduling decisions had yet been.

Radio Times has since followed up on the story and claims that “a reduced shooting period might not mean a delay even if Doctor Who does start filming a little later than it did for series 11.”

They add:

“Other sources suggest that production on the new series will be underway sooner than the new year, and that no plans have yet been finalised about moving the series 12 episodes (and thus making 2019 a Doctor Who gap year) anyway.

“We go into production next month,” a source close to the show told RadioTimes.com, “but it’s much too early to be making scheduling decisions anyway. We hadn’t decided when the current series would air when we were filming it – we only decided a few months ago.”

RadioTimes.com also understands that any future series of Doctor Who may have slightly shorter production schedules than the current one in any case, thanks to many core aspects of Whittaker’s series having been worked out during preproduction for series 11.

As ever, only time will tell on this one…