Jodie Whittaker ‘QUITS’ Doctor Who after 3 years on sci-fi show

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Jodie Whittaker is quitting as Doctor Who at the end of the next series, it was reported last night.

 The actress, 38, is said to have told bosses of the BBC sci-fi drama series that she won’t return after the forthcoming new season, and that they’ll need to start thinking about recasting the role of the Time Lord.

A source told The Daily Mirror: ‘It’s all very hush-hush but it is known on set that Jodie is leaving and they are gearing up for a regeneration.

‘Her departure is top secret but at some point over the coming months the arrival of the 14th Doctor will need to be filmed. It’s very exciting.’

MailOnline has approached reps for comment. The BBC declined to comment.

The series – which has been on the air on and off since 1963 – typically sees the titular Doctor ‘regenerate’ every three-four years.

It’s said that Jodie – who has also starred in the likes of Broadchurch, Black Mirror and The Smoke during her career – always planned to stick to this rhythm. It is also said she wants to pursue other roles.

In January 2020, she told Entertainment Weekly: ‘I absolutely adore [the role]. At some point, these shoes are going to be handed on, but it’s not yet. I’m clinging on tight!’ 

Jodie made history when she was announced as the Thirteenth (and first ever female) Doctor in July 2017.

She took the role from the prior star of the show, Peter Capaldi, who played the iconic character from 2014-2017.

Chris Chibnall, who was taking over as showrunner on the series, had worked with her on Broadchurch previously.

He said after she was cast that he had always intended to introduce the first female Doctor, and that she was his first choice.

Of the fact that the Doctor would be female, Jodie said: ‘Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one.’

She made her first appearance in the 2017 Christmas special, Twice Upon A Time.

Her first full series ran from October-December 2018, with a New Year’s one-off at the start of 2019.

Jodie’s second season – the 12th of the revived era and 38th overall – aired January-March 2020.

On Friday, a New Year’s 2021 special aired on BBC One, with the next full season set for later this year – presumably with a new Doctor taking over at the end of it.

The actor to play the role the longest was Tom Baker. He was the Fourth Doctor from 1974-1980, across seven seasons. 

The actor to take on the role for the shortest length of time was Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston who appeared in just one season, in 2005.

Eccleston fronted the show as it was rebooted, following 16 years away from TV screens. Since then, David Tennant and Matt Smith have led the show.

Jodie’s first season as the Doctor averaged at almost 8 million viewers across the series, just shy of David Tennant’s final turn in the role.

Her next season dropped to an average of 5.40 million. 

Last year, Jodie joined forces for the first time with ex-stars Tennant and Smith in a reunion for HBO Max, to reminisce together about their experiences on the iconic show.

Detailing the importance of being in a role that has been played by so many other actors, David admitted the show was ‘so precious’ to him.

‘There’s an expectation of what it will be like and what it actually is I suppose,’ he explained. ‘Growing up in Britain you’re very aware of Doctor Who as it has been ubiquitous in our lives even if it wasn’t on TV.

‘So when you realise it’s your turn you do kind of know what that means in terms of loss of anonymity, and the fact the first line of your obituary has almost certainly been written but I think that’s different to knowing what it feels like and carrying that around.

‘It’s a huge privilege and also feels very precious because people love it so much, and it means so much to people all through their lives, you just want to make sure you don’t break it. you want it to be special, precious and exciting for the next generation as it was for the old one.’

Matt then chimed in by saying: ‘I once had someone shout across the street, and I hadn’t shot a single frame, “don’t break Doctor Who!”‘

Sharing a similar story, Jodie admitted: ‘When I was announced, and you haven’t shot anything have you, I got a girl come up to me in a cafe and I was so excited because I was like “it’s my demographic”, she was sixteen and said, “I really wanted it to be Ben Whishaw!”‘

Teasing her over the encounter, Matt claimed ‘everyone wanted Ben Whishaw’ while David joked that ‘he would have been really good.’

Going on to discuss what it’s been like in the role, Jodie went on: ‘Because I haven’t handed off so I’m still in that strange floating space where I own it, I’m not kicked out of the club yet. 

Going on to discuss what it’s been like in the role, Jodie went on: ‘Because I haven’t handed off so I’m still in that strange floating space where I own it, I’m not kicked out of the club yet. 

‘The thing I would say to the next person is the pressure of the history of the show is all made up in your own head, on set all the crew who have transitioned onto the show they are kind of excited and with you to bring something new because that is the beauty of this as a role. 

‘You’re not supposed to be recreating what someone did you’re supposed to take it. There is a pressure and an actor’s monologue for a long time, but when you’re in your doctor’s clothes and you’ve got your own friends in it feels in a weird way all that pressure disappears because it’s yours to play with.’

Talking about handing off the show, David said of his five-year tenure as the Tenth Doctor which ended in 2010: ‘You always know that’s coming because you know what you’re getting into. 

‘But it’s like what Jodie says, when you’re in it you’re like “yeah this is it, this is my TARDIS”, it is quite weird that it carries on without you.

‘I was there on Matt’s first day and you’re kind of there and then Matt shows up and we say hello and have our photograph taken and then you walk off and they say right next, and the camera swings around to the next one. 

‘There this thought of “oh I think for a second I felt indispensable” but then that’s how that show works, and then you become part of the history of it.’

Matt then added: ‘I’ve got that picture David and I gave it to my granddad and you’re smiling at me as if like “you’ve got no idea” and I look like I’m peeing myself or something, I just look so nervous. 

‘The thing I miss, the one thing is the Christmas special, that’s just fantastic. It’s a great thing to pass on, it’s a great gift to go “good luck, don’t be too good!”‘

David went on: ‘It never goes away, it’s 15 years since I did it and I’m here today, it never goes away.’

The trio also chatted about the memorabilia they have from the show, after eagle-eyed fans noticed David had a TARDIS in his garden during his show Staged.

Admitting it wasn’t a real one, David said it was made for his kids by their step-granddad who ‘got very into [the show] briefly and then they moved on like the fickle heart breakers that they are.’

Jodie said she had a few Funko Pops of the Thirteenth Doctor, while Matt admitted he had two Cybermen from the show.

Showing off the memorabilia to his fellow Time Lords, Matt claimed it was a parting gift which David joked he was ‘furious’ about given he didn’t get given anything.