Jodie Whittaker’s incoming regeneration will mark a major first for the modern series of Doctor Who, it has been confirmed. Having boarded the series way back in 2017, the first ever female Doctor is set to hand her sonic screwdriver over to her still-unknown replacement later this year. Fresh details have now been revealed by the director behind Whittaker’s final episode, revealing how this time will be different from what fans have come to expect.
While speaking to RadioTimes.com, veteran Who director Jamie Magnus Stone confirmed he is helming the Thirteenth Doctor’s finale. He explained that Whittaker’s last day filming was also “most of the crew’s last day of filming as well”, which obviously meant there were “so many tears” by the end of the shoot. In discussing how the emotional day went, though, Stone casually dropped a major bombshell. Here’s what he had to say:
“And we shot the last-ever scene in the TARDIS, and said goodbye to the TARDIS, and then there were some tears. And then we went out to film, basically, her regeneration. And the last shot that we did, I think, will be the last shot in the episode as well. So it was really nice to do things in sequence. And it was mostly Jodie and Mandip’s scenes on that last day. So it was just super-emotional.”
So now we know that the Thirteenth Doctor’s regeneration will take place outside of the TARDIS. Though this was a common occurrence in the classic series, every Doctor since 2005 has died within the confines of their trusty time machine. It’s always been part of the lore that the TARDIS aids in the regeneration process somehow, so it tends to be a hazardous experience for the Time Lord to transform elsewhere. Expect the birth of the Fourteenth Doctor to be a bumpy ride, then.
After battling the Daleks one last time (we think) in this month’s New Year’s special, Jodie Whittaker now has just two more specials left to go. The first, featuring the return of an iconic monster not seen on screen since the 1980s, is set to arrive sometime this spring. Her final episode airs as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations this summer. The next era of Doctor Who will then kick off in fall 2023, to celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary.