Doctor Who fans predict ‘cliffhanger’ after director spills Jodie Whittaker regeneration detail

A new detail about Doctor Who’s forthcoming regeneration scene has fans worried about an agonising wait ahead.

Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Time Lord will arrive this autumn.

But according to the episode’s director, the scene will be quite different from any other regeneration scene to have come before it.

“I’m very fortunate in that I’m directing the last one of them. So I’m actually doing her regeneration,” Jamie Magnus Stone told Radio Times.

“Basically her last day of filming was most of the crew’s last day of filming as well. So it was all orchestrated to have this big, final last day. And we shot that last day for Jodie in story order. So we ended up on her last scene.”

Stone continued: “Everybody clapped her – and Mandip , actually. Everybody clapped them into the TARDIS for their last time, and then there were some tears. And we shot the last-ever scene in the TARDIS, and said goodbye to the TARDIS, and then there were some tears. And then we went out to film, basically, her regeneration.

“And the last shot that we did, I think, will be the last shot in the episode as well. So it was really nice to do things in sequence.”

Stone’s comments seem to confirm that Whittaker’s version of the Time Lord will regenerate outside of the TARDIS, which is unusual for the show.

Radio Times notes it’s occurred only twice in the beloved show’s history – when Tom Baker’s Doctor turned into Peter Davison’s, and when Sylvester McCoy’s turned into Paul McGann’s.

While the detail combats previous reports that Whittaker wouldn’t be seen regenerating in the show, fans are now predicting that the actor’s tenure on the show will end on a cliffhanger that could leave them waiting to find out who will next play the character in the 60th anniversary special in 2023.

Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.