The head of drama at the BBC has said that Doctor Who will be subject to a “radical” change after Jodie Whittaker’s exit. It was announced back in July that Whittaker and current showrunner Chris Chibnall will be leaving the hit British sci-fi series in 2022, after the release of season 13 and a series of specials. Whittaker, who plays the thirteenth incarnation of The Doctor, continues an established tradition of modern Who by staying on for a run of three full seasons before regenerating, like David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi did before her.
Despite the success of Whittaker’s performance as The Doctor, the Chibnall era has proved to be divisive among fans due to over-ambitious retcons of well-established Doctor Who lore. There has also been widespread criticism of supposedly underdeveloped characters and problems with storytelling. Therefore, the exit of both Whittaker and Chibnall provides an opportunity for Doctor Who to regenerate, representing a fresh start for the series as it approaches its 60th anniversary.
It appears that the BBC is keen to capitalize on the opportunity to start anew. In an interview at the Edinburgh TV Festival (via Elliot Gonzalez), the head of drama at the BBC, Piers Wenger, spoke about the future of Doctor Who. Wenger said that “as with any change of Doctor and showrunner, we’ll be radical," and teased that "change is ahead” for the hit series. Wenger has a long history with The Doctor, given his previous experience as former head of BBC Wales and a former executive producer of both Doctor Who and its spin-off, Sarah Jane Adventures.
With Whittaker’s casting as the first female incarnation of The Doctor providing a radical change for the series back in 2017, speculation has turned towards who her successor might be. I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel and It’s A Sin’s Olly Alexander are just two examples of rumored frontrunners. However, the real challenge will be finding a new showrunner for Doctor Who that can successfully shake things up and bring a fresh, exciting new energy to the sci-fi series. Chibnall has already stated that he has no say in picking Whittaker's successor, so the fate of the show is entirely in the hands of the higher-ups at the BBC.
With that in mind, it’s undoubtedly a positive thing that Wenger and the BBC Drama team are eager to make a “radical” change to Doctor Who. Wenger clearly knows the show well from his previous experience, and has seen what works and what doesn’t (the Timeless Child being an example of the latter). With its lead character constantly regenerating, Doctor Who is fundamentally a show all about change, and will likely benefit from the huge upheaval that is hopefully on the horizon for Team TARDIS.
Source: Elliot Gonzalez/Twitter