Doctor Who fans around the world don't have long to wait until their favourite Time Lord is back on TV with more adventures in space and time.

Jodie Whittaker will be at the helm of the TARDIS, with new showrunner Chris Chibnall in charge of the series. Joining them on Sunday nights on BBC One will be the new members of Team TARDIS: The Chase's Bradley Walsh and Hollyoaks alumni Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole.

The new Doctor Who team spoke to Digital Spy and other press in Cardiff last month. When asked how the time-travelling series would tackle LGBTQ+ issues and representation, executive producer Matt Strevens said:

"Since the show came back in 2005, I think Doctor Who has been amazing at blurring the edges of sexuality and being quite gender fluid about the characters and relationships."

Strevens went on to say that LGBTQ+ representation will continue in the new series, though it's not made an issue of "in any way". He also paid tribute to former Who showrunner Russell T Davies, while hinting that there will be LGBTQ+ representation within the main cast of series 11.

"I'm not going to say if any of our characters are or are not at this point. But it is part, I think, of the DNA that Russell re-imbued into the show...

"There will be characters from across the spectrum."

BBC

Over the years, Doctor Who has had a number of LGBTQ+ characters – most notably Captain Jack Harkness and Bill Potts, played by John Barrowman and Pearl Mackie respectively.

Chris Chibnall, who also worked with Whittaker on ITV drama Broadchurch, commented: "There are LGBT characters within the show. Obviously, last year we had Bill in the show. [But] in terms of sexuality, it's often not necessarily a thing you go into in a Doctor Who story."

Jodie, though, teased that these issues will play a significant part in the new series. "It's really frustrating when you're not allowed to say anything!" she grinned.

When pushed on how exactly the LGBT issues will manifest, Chibnall added: "You've just got to see how the stories play out!"

BBC

Whittaker also spoke out on being cast as the first female Doctor in the show's 55-year history.

"I think now is the time to show children – boys and girls – that your role models and your heroes on the screen don't all look the same."

Chibnall agreed: "As a boy, who's become a man, I find that idea really difficult – that boys and men can't look up to women. It's like, you've got your mum, I've got my sister, I've got my aunt, I work with brilliant women. It's just absurd."

Whittaker added with a laugh: "I didn't come into Broadchurch saying, 'I'm playing Beth Latimer as woman'!

"No one's saying to Jon Hamm, 'Did you play [Don Draper in] Mad Men as a man?' It's a weird question!"

Doctor Who starts on Sunday, October 7 on BBC One.

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