A new Doctor Who rumor details that current Doctor Who actor Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall are out after Series 13.
The rumor comes from YouTuber Gary Buechler of Nerdrotic.
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Buechler states, “Well, I’ve got some of those rumors to talk about. It looks like Chris Chibnall and the first female Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, who we will lovingly call Doctor Karen, might be on their way out.”
Later in the video, Buechler explains that this is a rumor. He states, “As with all rumors please take this with a grain of salt, but sometimes rumors can become stories, but I can’t verify any of this. I don’t work at the BBC.”
He adds, “But this does come from the same source who told me that they would be swapping the Doctor’s original gender. That the Doctor would originally be a female and that they would be retconning the Doctor’s past and that is what we saw play out in “The Timeless Children.”
Buechler then gets into the details of the rumor, “According to my source this will indeed be Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker’s final season on Doctor Who. Yes, we’ve heard this before. Starburst Magazine reported back in 2018 that Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall might be leaving after Season 12 that obviously didn’t happen although we have seen Series 13 yet.”
He continues, “Now, we saw some evidence earlier in the year that they were thinking about splitting the season and it looks like according to my source due to the impending delay that might happen and it might be split into two separate seasons while filming it all at once. We will see when and if that actually happens.”
“And as far as the next Doctor is concerned, according to my source it is still up in the air whether it is going to be a male of a female. Obviously, no decision has been made and one might not be made for years. And I doubt the show could even survive that,” Buechler elaborates.
He goes on to detail that the events of The Timeless Children will not be retconned, “Are the events of The Timeless Children going to remain canon or are they going to retcon it? Well, they will add on to it, but they aren’t going to retcon it any time soon. So don’t get your hopes up.”
Later on Buechler states, “My source can confirm that not everyone is happy with the direction of Doctor Who and despite what the BBC says publicly they are not happy with the ratings, but they are very happy with the show editorially.”
Doctor Who tanked in the ratings especially in the United Kingdom. The first episode of Series 12 titled “Spyfall: Part One” saw 6.89 million watch. By the final episode “The Timeless Children” viewership was down to 4.69 million.
The last time viewership was that low was The Trial of A Time Lord (Mindwarp): Part Six back in October 1986. Its viewership was 4.6 million.
In the United States, Doctor Who Series 12 saw 790,000 people tune in to watch “Spyfall: Part One.” By “Timeless Children,” viewership was down to 374,000.
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The season averaged 518,000 viewers with a .13 rating in the 18-49 demographic according to TV Series Finale.
Doctor Who will continue with the festive special Revolution of the Daleks. Mandip Gill, who plays Yasmin Khan in Doctor Who, confirmed to Radio Times that they had already filmed the special.
She stated, “I think I’m allowed to say, yes, the festive special has been filmed!”
She added, “It was absolutely pure luck we happened to have filmed it. I guess it’s the way it always films – they filmed the special at the same time as series 12.”
What do you make of this latest rumor about Doctor Who?