The twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 1 January 2020 and aired until 1 March 2020.
Prior to the eleventh series, regular episodes of the revived era were commonly broadcast on Saturdays.
It also stars Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill as the Doctor's travelling companions, playing Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan, respectively.
The ten episodes were directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, Lee Haven Jones, Nida Manzoor and Emma Sullivan.
Alongside Chibnall, who wrote four of the scripts and co-wrote a further three, the writers include Ed Hime, Pete McTighe and Vinay Patel, who return from writing the previous series, as well as new contributors Nina Metivier, Maxine Alderton and Charlene James.
[5] Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill also reprise their roles as Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan, respectively.
[15] Anjli Mohindra, who had previously portrayed Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, played Queen Skithra in "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror".
[18] Jo Martin appeared as a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor using the alias 'Ruth Clayton' in "Fugitive of the Judoon".
[23] Julie Graham, Ian McElhinney and Steve Toussaint guest star in the two-part finale, "Ascension of the Cybermen" / "The Timeless Children".
[24][25] In SFX #355, it was confirmed that "Revolution of the Daleks" would be the final appearances by Walsh and Cole, Chris Noth would return as Jack Robertson from "Arachnids in the UK" (2018), and that Harriet Walter had been cast.
[32] Nina Metivier, who served as script editor on the previous series, also wrote "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror".
[33][15] In November 2019, Doctor Who Magazine revealed the writers for the twelfth series, including Vinay Patel, Pete McTighe, Maxine Alderton and Charlene James, as well as Hime, Métivier and Chibnall.
[34] In a Radio Times article, Chibnall confirmed that Series 12 would feature the return of two-part stories.
[41] Filming commenced on 23 January 2019[42] in South Africa,[43] and concluded on 7 February, taking place at Western Cape, Hopefield,[44] Lion's Head,[45] and Taal Monument.
[79] Nielsen ratings of the show on BBC America for the key demographic, people aged 18 to 34, dropped by 52.5% compared to the previous series, down to 0.13.
[95] 48 selected pieces of score from this series as composed by Segun Akinola were released in a 2-CD set on 3 April 2020 by Silva Screen Records.