One of the changes rung in by Doctor Who season 11 was employing a crowded TARDIS containing the Doctor and not one, not two but three companions. This line-up actually recalls the first leads of the show back in 1963, but the modern series has always shied away from this many characters, maybe due to the difficulty of giving each of them enough screentime.
Nevertheless, showrunner Chris Chibnall gave it his best shot, and fans got to know the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) pretty well by the end of the run. However, there was a common criticism that the episodes often underused Yaz Khan, despite a hugely likeable performance from Mandip Gill.
Apparently, though, this is something we can expect to change in season 12. At a screening of the New Year’s special, titled “Resolution,” a young fan asked Chibnall about Yaz’s future and specifically, whether she’ll ever go back to her day job as a police officer. The writer didn’t say much, but he did offer what he called the first teaser for the next run, saying:
“I think that some of these questions may be answered in the forthcoming season… I think that’s the first teaser of the series! Really good question.”
To be fair, season 11 did feature a couple of episodes that put the focus on Yaz’s family, which helped flesh out where she’d come from and her familial connections. We’re talking about “Arachnids in the U.K.”, which introduced her home life, and “Demons of the Punjab”, which saw the time travelers go back and meet Yaz’s grandmother as a young woman.
Arguably, though, the problem was that these episodes didn’t explore Yaz as a character in her own right enough. By the end of the season, Graham had come to terms with his grief over his wife’s death while Ryan had beaten his dyspraxia. Yaz didn’t have as clear an arc though and it’d be nice to see this rectified in season 12.
Doctor Who returns for its one and only 2019 adventure this New Year’s Day, which apparently features the Daleks. And after that, the Time Lord won’t be with us again until 2020. It’ll be a long wait, for sure, but at least it sounds like there’s much to look forward to when the gang returns.