Jodie Whittaker Is Leaving Doctor Who in 2022

History was made when new chshowrunner Chris Chibnall cast Jodie Whittaker as the first woman to take on the mantle of the Doctor for Doctor Who, but the time has come for both Chibnall and Whittaker to step away from the timey-wimey show. Sadly, I kind of knew this was coming because the trend for the Doctor is to get your three seasons and pass it on, and Whittaker has been the Doctor since 2017. She just had a global pandemic shaking up her third season filming (one that Whittaker took in stride, posting videos as the Doctor telling kids it was going to be okay and making me cry).

According to the BBC: “Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to leave Doctor Who in a trio of Specials, culminating in an epic blockbuster Special to air in autumn 2022 as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations.”

Now, we already have a six-part event special coming this fall, and then there will be two specials in 2022 that lead to Whittaker’s regeneration in a feature-length finale, which feels a bit more like when David Tennant left the show with a series of “movies” leading to his classic “I don’t want to go” before regenerating into Matt Smith.

Still, it is sad that we’ll have to say goodbye to the 13th Doctor this soon. As I said before, Whittaker made history as the first woman to be the Doctor and now the door is open for a new actor to take on the title and I hope the show continues to push the boundaries of what we know of “The Doctor” to be.

Twitter shared their love for Jodie Whittaker and her Doctor.

With both Whittaker and Chibnall leaving the show, though, it means that we’re in for a completely new team taking on the TARDIS, and I’m excited to see who ends up taking on the mantle of the Doctor.

Thank you, Jodie. I get to show my niece Doctor Who and let her know that she can be the Doctor. You’re the reason I stopped thinking of myself as the companion and started to think of myself as the Time Lord. So many young people in this world will get to look at Doctor Who and think “that can be me,” and it’s all because of you, and I thank you. Your Doctor will surely be missed.

(image: BBC)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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