The BBC has finally confirmed the two Australian creatives who worked on the new series of Doctor Who: director Jennifer Perrott and screenwriter Pete McTighe.
The broadcaster announced the full roster of the directors and writers on the 11th season, which stars Jodie Whittaker and is expected to premiere in October.
Perrott, whose credits include Newton’s Law, Offspring and Home and Away, went to the UK to work on the BBC Studios production in February.
“Doctor Who is an iconic show and one I’d loved as a child, especially when Tom Baker was the Doctor,” she said in a BBC media release. “Space travel has become more a part of modern life and this has opened the door for more human stories to be told amidst the escapist fantasy of saving the world from alien invasion. The aliens are now as emotionally complex as the humans, and I was really excited by that.”
Daniel Nettheim directed four episodes of the time-travel series with Peter Capaldi as the Time Lord.
McTighe was an originating writer on Wentworth and his extensive credits include Glitch, Winners & Losers and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
“My entire television career has quite literally been an elaborate plan to get to write Doctor Who – and no one is more shocked than me that it paid off. I’ve been having the time of my life working with (showrunner) Chris Chibnall and writing for Jodie and the new team, and can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve been up to,” he said.
Chibnall said: “We have a team of writers who’ve been working quietly and secretly for a long time now, crafting characters, worlds and stories to excite and move you. A set of directors who stood those scripts up on their feet, bringing those ideas, visuals and emotions into existence with bravura and fun.
“Hailing from a range of backgrounds, tastes and styles, here’s what unites them: they are awesome people as well as brilliant at their job.”
The other directors are Sallie Aprahamian, Jamie Childs, who directed Jodie Whittaker’s reveal as the Thirteenth Doctor, and Mark Tonderai. The other writers are Ed Hime, Malorie Blackman, Vinay Patel and Joy Wilkinson.
After Doctor Who Perrott directed two episodes of Gentleman Jack, an eight-part drama created, written and primarily directed by Sally Wainwright (Last Tango In Halifax, Happy Valley), for the BBC, co-produced with HBO.
Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Save Me) plays Regency landowner Anne Lister with Sophie Rundle (Bodyguard, Peaky Blinders) as Ann Walker, the wealthy heiress whom Anne sets her sights on marrying.