Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, a blog of indeterminate purpose and of late infrequent scheduling.
Still in a not quite daily posting mode.
OK, when I say this is "a blog of indeterminate purpose", the masthead at the top of this blog does specify one of those topics as Doctor Who.
Doctor Who used to be a more frequent occurrence on this blog. Between a paucity of Doctor Who news and quite frankly, a diminished sense of excitement about the franchise, posts about Doctor Who are not a fixture of this blog as they used to be.
But over the last couple of weeks we've had news including some of the biggest news Doctor Who can deliver, the changing of the guard.
During Comic-Con@Home, a teaser for Series 13 was dropped and look, here it is now.
And during a panel, showrunner Chris Chibnall and stars Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and John Bishop dropped little in the way of any specific knowledge about the forthcoming season.
But Chibnall did reveal that all eight episodes of the forthcoming season will all be part of the same story. The weekly adventures will end with cliffhangers that lead into the next, making the season an eight-part story.
But Chris and Jodie waited a week to deliver even bigger news: both will be leaving Doctor Who in 2022.
After the conclusion of Series 13 in 2021 and some specials in 2022, Chris Chibnall will be stepping down as the showrunner of Doctor Who and Jodie Whitaker will leave the role of the Doctor.
The announcement seemed to futz with some previously announced numbers about the series.
Previous information, including the Comic-Con@Home panel, put the episode count for Series 13 as 8 episodes.
Announcements of the departure of Chris and Jodie show the episode count for Series 13 as 6 episodes. And the counting of the specials is three.
Chibnall said the plan was for two specials but the BBC asked for a 3rd to commemorate the BBC's centenary.
Either the 6 episode count is wrong or I suspect some kind of jiggery pokery with the budget for 2 of the previously announced 8 episodes now being diverted over to two of the so-called specials.
It's a shame to see Jodie leaving but this in keeping with previous actors in the role of the Doctor, 3 seasons and out.
I kind of wish Chibnall was sticking around for one more Doctor just so we can demonstrate that any shortcomings in recent Doctor Who was not Jodie Whitaker's fault.
But maybe that is a topic for another time.
So the speculation on the next Doctor is ramping up again. My rule on that: the next Doctor will not be anyone is expecting.
Also who should take up the reins as Doctor Who showrunner after Chibnall? We will need an answer to that before we can get an answer on the next Doctor.
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No new post tomorrow but there will be a Flashback Friday post from the blog's archives.
No Songs For Saturday again this week.
Coming up on Sunday, Cinema Sunday continues the review of Star Trek films.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another.
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