Happy new year to this man and this man only: the BBC announced on Friday that comedian John Bishop will join Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor for Doctor Who‘s thirteenth season, set to air later this year.
It would be impossible to say more without a few spoilers for the holiday special, “Revolution of the Daleks.”
Bishop steps in following the departure of Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan (Tosin Cole), who chose to part ways with the Doctor at the end of the holiday special. When Ryan decides he wants to go back to life on Earth, Graham, his grandfather, makes the same choice, leaving the Doctor with just the excellent Yaz (Mandip Gill) for company. A season with just the two of them would’ve been incredibly welcome, but given how many decades it took for the Doctor to regenerate into a woman, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that the show is ducking away from letting two women go on their own adventures. Enter Bishop.
The BBC is, of course, cagey about Bishop’s character, Dan, who “will quickly learn there’s more to the Universe(s) than he could ever believe.” Who executive producer Chris Chibnall said the character was “built for” Bishop, who began filming at the end of last year.
Bishop is a well-known stand-up comedian in the UK; he has a whole host of TV specials under his belt. His acting credits include Skins and the single-season series Fearless.
