The next episode of Doctor Who, Legend of the Sea Devils, will be co-written by playwright, Ella Road.

She is best known for writing the 2018 play, The Phlebotomist, which depicts a world of genetics testing gone mad: everyone has their DNA mapped and the population is subsequently judged based on the “quality” of their genes. She’s also written for the TV comedy, Ten Percent, a remake of the French series, Call My Agent!, about a talent agency. That launches on Amazon Prime in the spring.

On Instagram, Road wrote:

“It features fearsome historical pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao – aka Madam Ching – & a whole load of monsters, madness… and maybe a few puns.

“Had sooo much fun writing this. Massive thank you to Chris [Chibnall] for bringing me along for the ride, and to the incredible script editors Rebecca & Caro for their excellent brains & endless energy.”

Road has scripted the Easter special with departing showrunner, Chris Chibnall, who has either written or co-written 22 of the 29 episodes of Jodie Whittaker’s era as the Thirteenth Doctor so far (i.e. from The Woman Who Fell to Earth to the New Year’s Day story, Eve of the Daleks). That’ll rise to 24 out of 31 episode when Whittaker’s final serial airs later this year.

Legend of the Sea Devils is expected to be the last episode of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era to be co-written, as Jodie’s swansong will surely be solely written by Chibnall.

The Easter special will see the return of the Sea Devils, aquatic cousins of the Silurians, who we haven’t seen on screen since 1984’s Warriors of the Deep.

It’s directed by Haolu Wang and is due to air over the Easter break in April.