Jodie Whittaker Confirms Doctor Who Exit!

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to depart Doctor Who next year.

Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker Thirteenth Doctor
BBC

After plentiful speculation over the past year or more, Jodie Whittaker has now confirmed that she is to depart Doctor Who in 2022.

As first reported by the BBC, Whittaker will also be joined by showrunner Chris Chibnall in exiting the show next Autumn. Before that, the 13th Doctor will star in a new six-part Who series to air before 2021 is up and then headline three specials next year.

Taking over from Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker's time as the iconic Time Lord formally began on-screen in October 2018, with that first episode - The Woman Who Fell to Earth - bringing in a mammoth 11.5 million viewers. To contrast that, the most recent Doctor Who outing - this past January's Revolution of the Daleks special - was watched by an audience of 'just' 6.35 million.

Advertisement

In a statement on her impending exit, Whittaker enthused:

"In 2017 I opened my glorious gift box of size 13 shoes. I could not have guessed the brilliant adventures, worlds and wonders I was to see in them. My heart is so full of love for this show, for the team who make it, for the fans who watch it and for what it has brought to my life. And I cannot thank Chris enough for entrusting me with his incredible stories. We knew that we wanted to ride this wave side by side, and pass on the baton together. So here we are, weeks away from wrapping on the best job I have ever had. I don't think I'll ever be able to express what this role has given me. I will carry the Doctor and the lessons I've learnt forever."

Much like Whittaker's Doctor took to our screens in October 2018, Chris Chibnall had been overseeing Doctor Who since 2017 and was the person whose decision it was to replace Capaldi with Jodie.

Advertisement

As part of this news, Chibnall added how he and Whittaker had made a "three series out and out" pact when their journey began. With the upcoming series and specials, that brings that run to a close, with the showrunner now "handing back the Tardis keys".

At this early juncture, there is no replacement confirmed for either Jodie Whittaker or Chris Chibnall, but there'll surely be plenty of rumours and rumblings of who'll be appearing as the next Doctor when the character regenerates in Autumn 2022 to bring to an end to Whittaker and Chibnall's time on this most legendary of shows.

Advertisement

Watch Next


Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.