Doctor Who boss reveals huge change for series 13 as Game of Thrones star joins cast

DOCTOR Who bosses have revealed a huge shake up ahead of series 13 - including a Game of Thrones star who has joined the cast.

Show runner Chris Chibnall revealed during a virtual panel that Jacob Anderson, who played Grey Worm in the fantasy drama, would be joining the star-studded line-up.

While Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill and John Bishop are set to continue, they will also be joined by the Game of Thrones star in season 13.

Jacob, 31, is set to play a character called Vinder across the series, making regular comebacks throughout episodes as the plot line develops.

Fans will likely be hoping that the actor, who also raps under the name Raleigh Ritchie, doesn't meet the same bloody fate as he did in the HBO show.

Jacob said: “The Doctor has been a part of my life for ever – from watching and re-watching the serials on VHS as a kid and being terrified to unexpectedly finding my eyes watering when the Tenth Doctor said, ‘I don’t want to go’.

“I always wanted to live in the Whoniverse. Not only has a lifelong dream of mine now been fulfilled but to be playing a character as fun, adventurous and dynamic as Vinder is the cherry on top."

It comes as part of a major shake-up for the long-running BBC drama, which will now follow a single serialised story rather than multiple self-contained episodes.

"The big thing we’re going to be doing this year is that it’s all one story – so every episode is a chapter in a bigger story," Chibnall explained.

He told fans at the Doctor Who Comic-Con panel: "We've changed the shape of the series for this year. It's very much not a business as usual time."

Chibnall told viewers to prepare for "the biggest story ever done", which will see "different characters and monsters" travel across time and space.

“I think it’s definitely the most ambitious thing we’ve done, t’s epic and ambitious and we do go to a lot of places," he concluded.

It's yet to be revealed whether the new story will take place over the eight-episode run of the next series, which was cut from 11 episodes due to the coronavirus pandemic halting filming.

It comes after news spread that Olly Alexander could be set to be the new Doctor Who — becoming the first gay actor to play the Time Lord.

Olly, 30, is thrashing out final details with BBC bosses to replace Jodie Whittaker and become the 14th Doctor.

It was reported earlier this year that Jodie, 39 — the first female Time Lord — will step aside after two specials in 2022.

And actor and musician Olly, who first found fame as the frontman of band Years and Years, is in prime position to take over after pay negotiations with BBC chiefs reached an “advanced stage”.

It comes after he won rave reviews playing Ritchie Tozer in Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin, about the 1980s Aids crisis.

Russell, a former writer and producer on Doctor Who, championed Olly for the BBC sci-fi role.