Jodie Whittaker’s tenure in the TARDIS is coming to an end. After boarding Doctor Who in a landmark bit of casting back in 2017, the actress is soon to say goodbye to the Thirteenth Doctor later this year after just two more specials. With her penultimate episode arriving sometime this spring, Whittaker’s grand finale will air this summer. And we’ve now learned that it will stand as a “feature-length” conclusion to Thirteen’s era.
Executive producer Matt Strevens confirmed this detail while speaking to RadioTimes.com. Strevens offered a brief tease at what fans can expect from the special, and could not have raised the hype higher as he promised that it will surprise people and really hit the spot.
“The final story is a massive, feature-length epic – it was huge to shoot – with lots of surprises for fans of all ages. Jodie gets a really good send-off,” Strevens said. “I think it will push everybody’s buttons.”
The special, which is currently untitled, will be broadcast as part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations this summer, which Strevens stressed just goes to show how big a deal it is.
“And the fact the BBC asked us for it to be part of their centenary celebrations – I think that just underlines the iconic nature of the show,” he added.
Nothing has been confirmed about Whittaker’s final episode as yet, but we can maybe expect two key players from this era of the show to return one last time. The New Year’s special dropped a big hint that Sacha Dhawan’s Master will have something to do with Thirteen’s regeneration, while Strevens himself has previously assured us that Jo Martin will be back as the Fugitive Doctor in one of these specials. It’s most likely that it will be the final one, given the huge scale.
Before Whittaker’s Doctor Who exit gets here, we first have “Legends of the Sea Devils” to look forward to, which features the titular classic monsters for the first time since the 1980s. Watch out for that on our screens next month, as it’s expected to arrive around Easter.