 "Can You Hear Me?" is the sixth story of Season Thirty Eight (New Series 12) and was written by Charlene James and Chris Chibnall, and directed by Emma Sullivan. This is Charlene James' first Doctor Who story.
The first draft of co-writer Charlene James’ scripts bears the twin titles "Fingers" and "The Girl in the Orb" - both covered the same themes of nightmares and depression as the finished "Can You Hear Me?".
Co-writer and Executive Producer Chris Chibnall has revealed that this story ‘Has a deliberately different tone, pace, atmosphere and purpose to the other episodes this series. It’s a chance to check in, in greater depth, with where Ryan, Yaz and Graham are in their journeys with The Doctor’.
This story sees The Doctor and her three travelling companions travelling from ancient Syria to Sheffield and to the far reaches of the universe. It has the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companions Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), and Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) being stalked by a strange being who forces them to confront their worst fears.
Charlene James is an award-winning writer whose television work includes A Discovery of Witches and Snatches: Moments from Women's Lives (both screened in 2018). This is her first Doctor Who script.
Emma Sullivan directed the fourth recording block containing this story and the next story, "The Haunting of Villa Diodati". This is her first Doctor Who story. Her directing credits include BBC drama favourites such as Call the Midwife, Silent Witness and Holby City.
Ian Gelder portrays Zellin in this story. He previously played the part of Dekker in the Torchwood story "Children of Earth". He also voiced the Remnants in "The Ghost Monument".
Sharon D. Clarke reprises her role as Graham's late wife, Grace - appearing in his nightmare scene.
The Doctor’s nightmare is shown to be another vision of The Timeless Child, last mentioned in "Spyfall" - the opening story of this season.
The Dregs, from "Orphan 55", made a cameo appearance during Ryan's dream sequence. Ryan also witnesses Earth surrounded by flames in his nightmare. Yasmin’s nightmare sees a younger version of herself having run off and on a lonely road. While Graham’s nightmare has him waking up in a hospital where he sees his late wife, Grace, as a nurse who tells him that his cancer has returned.
Graham’s late wife, ‘Grace’, was last seen in "It Takes You Away" when she is heard telling Graham that his cancer has returned. In "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" Graham tells The Doctor about being in remission from cancer, and how Grace was his nurse.
Zellin and Rakaya identify themselves as immortals and gods. Zellin alludes to The Eternals and The Guardians of Time, and specifically references The Celestial Toymaker (from the 1966 First Doctor story "The Celestial Toymaker"). The Guardians were seen or referenced in multiple stories, in the Fourth Doctor's and the Fifth Doctor eras, and the Eternals (from the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "Enlightenment"). The Seventh Doctor also previously met two immortals who enjoyed playing with people in the Virgin Books' The New Adventures novel "Falls the Shadow" written by Daniel O'Mahony.
The gods refer to human lives as ‘ephemeral’ (see "Enlightenment").
Zellin is capable of detaching his fingers, which can work separately. The Doctor treats the finger she takes over as a dog.
Zellin's hand effect was achieved via a combination of a fingerless prosthetic hand and digital effects.
The lighting in the TARDIS turns off and the glassy hexagon roundels turn red when it is in danger.
The TARDIS cannot register the fur strands, from the creature that terrorises Tahira that The Doctor tries to analyse, because they are not in the database nor can it see them as they do not exist nor will ever exist.
To locate the planet, that Graham had a vision of, The Doctor hooks Graham up to the telepathic circuits, which is now a head-piece connected to the console.
Graham's vision leads the TARDIS into deep space in the distant future, half a galaxy past the Geskon Straits. Graham notices the two planets from his vision in the process of an extinction event.
Graham jokes that The Doctor could just give him an ‘A to Z of the universe’, and he would know where they should travel, before saying he has no idea.
Yasmin is heard telling Sonya that she has been to California ("Spyfall"), Gloucester ("Fugitive of the Judoon"), Madagascar and Hong Kong ("Praxeus").
Sonya recalls hearing about the recent events in Gloucester, and that her dad thought that the Russians were responsible ("Fugitive of the Judoon").
This story extended on the ongoing story arc of The Timeless Child a bit further.
This marks the first Doctor Who television story to have a question mark in its title.
This story has a pre-title sequence - the first for this season since the two-part opening story "Spyfall".
This story features an animated segment during Rakaya's tale of her and Zellin's coming-to-be up until her imprisonment. It was created by Nina Chakrabarti and DNEG. This is the first story to include in-story animation since the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Fear Her".
At the end of this story we witness a flashback to three years earlier when a younger Yasmin was persuaded by a police officer to return home. She was getting bullied and had low grades at the time. The pair made a deal about owing the other 50 pounds or 50 pence.
In the TARDIS we see Ryan talking to Yasmin about being unsure about continuing travelling with The Doctor, worrying about missing bits of his friends' lives and not being there for them.
It has been reported that fans were impressed by this story’s way of tackling mental health issues, however voiced disdain towards The Doctor's dismissal of Graham's fears about his cancer returning, saying it was out of character. The BBC Complaints department later addressed this by saying that the scene's intention was to show The Doctor struggling to deal with the subject matter properly, thus not being able to find the right words.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Charlene James.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Emma Sullivan.
The first Doctor Who television story to have a question mark in its title.
The first story to include in-story animation since the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Fear Her".
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