Jodie Whittaker Has Filmed Her Doctor Who Regeneration, Talks About Next Doctor
Jodie Whittaker has filmed her last scene for Doctor Who and with it she discussed who could replace her as the next in line.
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Jodie Whittaker is set to finish her run as Doctor Who sooner than later, ending a groundbreaking turn as the character that’s been met with near-universal praise. As the first female Doctor, Whittaker had to buck decades’ worth of history around the character and did it without missing a beat. But she is walking away from the show, having already filmed her final scenes for the series. And in getting ready to move on, she was, of course, asked about the future of the character. Even as a departing Doctor, Whittaker made it pretty clear that she hasn’t been included in the process for who will be her replacement.
While appearing on The Graham Norton Show, Jodie Whittaker let on that she had filmed her part of the regeneration, the process by which the character moves on from the role and opens the door for the next in line. And during the interview, she also had this to say about what was next for the character and who might be playing the 14th Doctor: “They are never going to tell me who it is. We filmed some scenes (for the regeneration), but the new Doctor wasn’t there…I wasn’t there for Peter (Capaldi), and I only met him months later when I passed him in the street!”
This is pretty par for the Doctor Who course really. Jodie Whittaker refers to her onboarding as the 13th Doctor and not filming any scenes with Capaldi who was the 12th Doctor from 2014-2017. His time ended in 2017 with the Christmas special “Twice Upon A Time” in which the two regenerated. This was Capaldi’s final episode, technically not overlapping with Whitaker seeing as how his exit paved the way for her to step into the role. This next regeneration will likely follow the same structure which is why Whittaker isn’t aware of her replacement.
The nature of how Doctor Who handles this turnover means that strict levels of secrecy can happen even as they gear up for the next character turn. Her swan song in the TARDIS will start on Halloween night, October 31st. The season is title Doctor Who: Flux and will be six episodes in total. That’s a pretty short run all things considered, but some delays around Covid-19 and the likelihood that we see the Christmas special as the final turn looks like it has necessitated a truncated season.
This will mark the third series for Jodie Whittaker in the role and has generally been regarded as one of the best the franchise has had to offer. That’s a big lift considering Doctor Who has been around for close to sixty years now. While there was some question about the future of the show, Whittaker’s turn has breathed new life into the franchise and set the stage for someone new to pick up the mantle. And considering we just saw the first woman in the part, her successor could also break the mold in a different way. That remains to be seen. The beginning of the end for Whittaker as Doctor Who is just a couple of weeks away now. And it will be a bittersweet goodbye.
