The BBC confirmed that Jodie Whittaker, who became the first female actor to portray “Doctor Who,” will end her run on the sci-fi mystery show in 2022 after the new season airs. Chris Chibnall, the showrunner who brought Whittaker aboard, will also be leaving the series.
Thankfully, fans will get to see the pioneering 39-year-old UK native step into the box once more in the show’s heavily delayed upcoming season, slated to premiere at the end of 2021, per the BBC. She’ll also appear in a trio of specials in 2022 before the Doctor regenerates anew.
This marks the end of a memorable run for Whittaker and Cibnall, who cast the actress as the first female iteration of “Doctor Who” after taking over the detective series in 2017.
Upon seeing her 2018 on-screen debut, Post film critic Sara Stewart described Whittaker as so “organically right for the part that her femaleness seems almost an afterthought.”
The BBC has yet to confirm who will succeed Whittaker as “Doctor Who,” which premiered in 1963.