Review: Jodie Whittaker’s Time Lord returns to classic Doctor Who form

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  The Doctor channels James Bond in the opening episode. [credit: BBC ]

After taking pains to set Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor apart in his first stint as Doctor Who showrunner, Chris Chibnall took a different tack with series 12, upping the stakes and giving us more of the classic tropes that have made this long-running series so enduringly appealing. The season included the revival of a well-known nemesis and a classic monster, plus an entertaining cameo by a former ally. And the finale dove deep into Whovian lore to give us a pretty big final twist.

(Mild spoilers below until the second gallery; some major spoilers after. We'll give you a heads-up when we get there.)

Last season, the Doctor landed in Sheffield, sans TARDIS, right after regenerating. She teamed up with some locals as her new companions (aka her "fam"): Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh, Coronation Street); his grown stepson Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole, Hollyoaks); and Ryan's old school chum, Yasmin "Yaz" Khan (Mandip Gill, also from Hollyoaks), a rookie police officer eager to prove herself.

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