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Doctor Who's new season reveals episode titles, promises a 'Reality War,' and brings in two groundbreaking new writers

The episode titles and writers of the upcoming Doctor Who season have been revealed, and things are looking reality-bending (and shattering some glass ceilings, too, finally)

With less than a month to go before the new season of Doctor Who, the BBC and Disney+ have unveiled the traditional tease of the titles for the entire season’s episodes, along with who’s writing which story — and, in the process, kickstarted fan speculation about just what lies in wait for sci-fi’s favorite time-traveler this time out.

The second season featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, the upcoming season will also see the return of Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday —as well as the introduction of Varada Sethu’s new companion, Belinda Chandra… who just wants to get back to Earth, which is more difficult than it should be, for some mysterious reason. Could the answer to that mystery be hidden inside the episode titles for the season? Take a look at them and see what you think.

  • The Robot Revolution: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Peter Hoar
  • Lux: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Amanda Brotchie
  • The Well: Written by Russell T Davies & Sharma Angel Walfall, directed by Amanda Brotchie
  • Lucky Day: Written by Pete McTighe, directed by Peter Hoar
  • The Story & the Engine: Written by Inua Ellams, directed by Makalla McPherson
  • The Interstellar Song Contest: Written by Juno Dawson, directed by Ben A. Williams
  • Wish World: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai
  • The Reality War: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai

Fans online have already wondered if the title of the last episode — and two earlier titles that might be not entirely unrelated, The Story & The Engine,’ and ‘Wish World’ — suggest that the Doctor will spend part if not all of the new season outside of traditional reality and in an alternate, fictional (inside the fiction of the show)reality powered by wishes.

Something also worth paying attention to are the new writers working on the show this year; Inua Ellams is a Nigerian-born playwright and poet moving into television to become, somewhat shockingly, the first Black man to ever write on the show in its 60+ year history, while Juno Dawson — author of one of the most-banned books of 2022 — graduates from writing Doctor Who prose and hosting Doctor Who podcasts to become, again surprisingly, the first transgender writer to work on the show. With the new writing team in place, expect arguments that Doctor Who has become ‘too woke’ to become even louder from the traditional reactionary voices, but just remember: if the famously kind and humane Doctor Who can’t be an inclusive and welcoming space, what show can?

Doctor Who returns to the BBC and Disney+ on April 12.


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Graeme McMillan

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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