If you’re sad that Jodie Whittaker has only two more outings as the Thirteenth Doctor left before she regenerates into a new (and as yet undisclosed) incarnation, I have some solace for you: there’s actually one more story coming very soon, it’s just not on TV.
The series will be titled Doctor Who: Redacted, and follows three young women connected by a shared fascination with sightings of a mysterious woman in a Blue Police Box. The BBC’s official synopsis for the series reads as follows:
“Doctor Who: Redacted follows Cleo, Abby, and Shawna — three broke university drop-outs from different cities across the UK who remain connected via their paranormal conspiracy podcast, ‘The Blue Box Files’. The trio speculate over Abby’s favourite conspiracy theory – intent on finding out the truth behind the mysterious ‘Blue Box’ that keeps cropping up across history. What if this random police public call box was actually an alien ship?
“They don’t know who the Doctor is, or if aliens are real, but soon find themselves caught in a supernatural conspiracy as they learn that everyone who’s ever met the Doctor is disappearing and being forgotten. Essentially, they’re being redacted from reality. The Blue Box Files is so unsuccessful that our heroes are the last ones to be affected by the redaction, making Cleo, Abby, and Shawna the world’s only hope. Now it’s a race against time to uncover the truth.”
I must admit my eyes rolled a bit at the idea of a TARDIS-centric conspiracy podcast, but the idea that the trio are currently safe from being erased from existence because no one listens to their podcast has charmed me. But the synopsis continues (and is edited slightly for clarity)!
“When Cleo’s brother Jordan, (played by comedian Jacob Hawley), gets redacted, they spend the rest of the series trying to find him. In the meantime, Cleo is dealing with a mother who kicked her out for being trans when she was 16, whilst trying to find out what happened to her Dad who mysteriously ‘disappeared’ when she was a kid. As the series unfolds we find Abby (the resident believer) and Shawna (the sceptic) grapple with their own tribulations on the edge of a will-they, won’t-they romance, despite Abby’s controlling boyfriend.”
Redacted will star trans activist Charlie Craggs as Cleo, Lois Chimimba as Abby, and Holly Quin-Ankrah as Shawna, as well as past Who stars Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Ingrid Oliver as Petronella Osgood, and Anjli Mohindra as The Sarah Jane Adventures’ Rani Chandra. The Silurian detective Madame Vastra will also make an appearance but will be voiced by Good Omens’ Doon Mackichan instead of the TV actor Neve McIntosh. The first part of the 10-episode series will premiere on April 17, just after the second special, Legend of the Sea Devils, premieres on BBC America.