Season 13 starts shooting in a few weeks

[Relayer1]

I understood that Jack was originally intended for inclusion but covid restrictions put paid to that well before any other considerations. And that that was why Bishop's character was written in.

Anyhow, fantastic news. I've been hoping for a format change for ages now but didn't expect it to happen - longer episodes, a series of shorter episodes telling one story, anything to shake it up a bit.

Very pleased with the news.

 

[DigificWriter]

I understood that Jack was originally intended for inclusion but covid restrictions put paid to that well before any other considerations. And that that was why Bishop's character was written in.

This idea is nonsense because Revolution of the Daleks was filmed in Fall 2019, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the character of Dan was cast before then, so bringing him in was always the plan.

 

[Relayer1]

I read that he began filming in November 2020 and that it was convenient for him as his scheduled stand up tour (which would have prevented his participation) was cancelled due to Covid.

Can't remember where I read it though.

This idea is nonsense because Revolution of the Daleks was filmed in Fall 2019, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the character of Dan was cast before then, so bringing him in was always the plan.

How do you know he was cast before Autumn 2019 ?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Bishop said during the panel that he originally turned down the role because of his stand-up tour then COVID happened, at which point he reached out to Chibnall to see if he could still do the role. There's no way Barrowman was considered for the larger inclusion but then was left out due to COVID as you postulated.

 

[DigificWriter]

Looking more into things, what I found is this:
* Bishop's intro scene was filmed in 2020 and inserted into the Final Cut of Revolution of the Daleks
* The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown only affected his ability to accept the role of Dan as a Series Regular, which was offered to him sometime before everything was shut down and filming on Series 13 was delayed

The November 2020 filming date for Bishop is relevant because that's when production on Series 13 began.

 

[Relayer1]

Fair enough.

 

[DigificWriter]

To follow up on my last comment, there's not enough publicly available information about exactly when Chibnall conceived of the character of Dan, but we do know that he wrote the role specifically with Bishop in mind, and we also know that Bishop was initially forced to turn the role down because his already-finalized touring schedule would not have allowed him to be in Cardiff to film during the summer of 2020.

We also know that when the pandemic forced the cancellation of his 2020 tour dates, Bishop was able to come back to Chibnall and say "yes" to the role of Dan, which then kicked off a formal 'audition' process wherein he flew to Cardiff in the midst of lockdown restrictions and pandemic protocols and met with both Chibnall and Jodie directly to test his chemistry with her.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Given that Grey Worm's character has "a ship of his own" and so does Jack in Prisoner Of The Judoon, I suspect it's more likely that - if there's a replacement for Jack at all, which is by no means certain, they may have just left his whole part out - then it's more likely that this new character would be a possible replacement.

(I also can't help thinking there must be something in his character's name, Vinder, almost being a homonym for Finder (#FindTheDoctor, anyone?) and an anagram for Dr Vine. A vine's an offshoot, right...?

Those are probably just writer-brain overthinking it though.

 

[The Wormhole]

Bishop's intro scene was filmed in 2020 and inserted into the Final Cut of Revolution of the Daleks

Actually, no it's not part of the final cut of Revolution of the Daleks, as it's not even included on the DVD/Blu-ray release of the episode at all. As I understand it, BBC One and BBC America ran the Dan scene immediately after Revolution of the Daleks, creating the impression in many that it was a post-credits scene for that episode, which it's not. It's something entirely separate meant only as a promotional spot for the season. I can confirm it was not included in the Canadian broadcast of the episode, and I've heard it was not part of the Australian broadcast either. In Canada, CTV Sci-Fi has instead been airing the Dan scene as a commercial during the commercial breaks of its programming promoting the new season of Doctor Who.

 

[Relayer1]

The Dan scene's a standalone teaser, that's all.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ Hmm.

That leads me to wonder what Chibnall was talking about here:
https://cultbox.co.uk/news/headline...ne-inserted-into-doctor-who-new-years-special

 

[The Nth Doctor]

That doesn't conflict with anything that was already stated. The only thing that's "off" is how Chibnall said "inserted" which can easily mean inserted in the time slot. Or he didn't know (at that time) the BBC would use it as a separate ad and not as something part of the episode.

 

[StCoop]

Looks like there's some sort of ARG game planned. The word "Mystery" very briefly and faintly appears in the trailer and when you add it to the official site's URL you get this:

https://www.doctorwho.tv/mystery

 

[Jinn]

Looks like there's some sort of ARG game planned. The word "Mystery" very briefly and faintly appears in the trailer and when you add it to the official site's URL you get this:

https://www.doctorwho.tv/mystery

I checked and the password is not "password".

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I checked and the password is not "password".

Wait! Did you try "mystery" yet?

 

[Jinn]

Wait! Did you try "mystery" yet?

No, I'm still making my way through "Password1" etc!

 

[StCoop]

I'm terrible at these things but I assume the capital D in the middle of the word "hiDden" means something.

Edit: The name "Fred" is also there hidden in white text on the white background. I tried "Romanadvoratrelundar" but that didn't work.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Checking Twitter, people noticed in the John Bishop clip at the 13-second mark, the guy talking to Bishop says "the letter D."

So that's two Ds...

 

[Jinn]

So Fred and two "D"s? What is this, someone's evil twin clone from an alternate future?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

...or it means Freddy Krueger is crossing over with Doctor Who!