We have some breaking news regarding the future of Doctor Who.
It was commonly believed that Chris Chibnall had taken the role of Showrunner with a 3 series/5 year plan with around 18 months between series, but considering it’s relative success on Sunday nights, the BBC and BBC Studios want to him to supply more. Nothing less than a series a year will do. This is something that Chibnall is unable to do.
Outpost Skaro has recently heard that, despite the very late start to production, Doctor Who will not only air series 12 in 2019 but also restore the Christmas Day Special, which this year has been demoted to New Years Day.
However, this “good” news is likely to come with a pay off, as showrunner and Broadchurch creator will leave the series once his writing duties are complete for s12. It is believed he feels the work load for a full series-a-year is unsubstainable.
As well as that, we understand that s12 will have a drastically reduced episode count, with 5 or 6 episodes being likely (and in line with most BBC Dramas) along with a Christmas Special.
With Bradley Walsh unlikely to continue on as a regular companion in s12, this also seems likely for Tosin Cole, however there is no news on Mandip Gill. As for the 13th Doctor Jodie Whittaker, it seems likely that she’ll leave the role along with Chibnall as a series-a-year will be too much for the young mum so is likely to hand over the keys to the TARDIS, as is tradition, next Christmas.
As ever, we caveat this with being at present just a rumour and nothing is certain until the BBC say it’s so. We did approach the BBC for a comment but we got none. We would also warn that things have changed dramatically over the last few days so could do so again, so please keep an eye out for any changes.
As for who the new Doctor or showrunner will be, we have nothing on this yet, but if we hear, we’ll be sure to share. However if new showrunners can’t be found by early 2019 Chibnall may have to produce a full 10 episodes for s12 which will be split between 2019 and 2020 until the new team get traction on their own take.
As ever… stay tuned!
