The co-writer of Doctor Who‘s upcoming special has revealed that Sunday’s episode will hint at the Time Lord’s impending regeneration, which is set to take place in the show’s centenary special later in the year.
Ella Road, who co-wrote this weekend’s episode Legend of the Sea Devils with showrunner Chris Chibnall, told RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview that they “don’t ignore the fact” that Jodie Whittaker will be leaving the show in the following special.
“I think it’s hard to avoid that from a kind of psychological perspective,” she said. “That’s, again, one of the exciting things about writing this particular episode, and where it is in the timeline of Jodie’s time as the Doctor. Even though it is very much a standalone, there are some relationship ripples, and kind of series-wide themes bubbling underneath.
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“So we don’t ignore the fact that it is the penultimate episode. It’s only very subtle, what’s in there. But for sure. It’s very sad, I think. Not the episode, but the fact that Jodie’s time is coming to an end.”
Road added that Whittaker did “an amazing job” as the Thirteenth Doctor on the long-running sci-fi show.
“She really is fantastic. I did a set visit. I would have spent more time on set if I could, but it was COVID-y times, so it was quite hard. When I met her briefly on set, she seemed so happy.”
Doctor Who’s Legend of the Sea Devils will see the Doctor, Yaz (Mandeep Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) go up against one of the Time Lord’s oldest adversaries, meeting pirate queen Madam Ching (Crystal Yu) along the way.
Additional reporting by Huw Fullerton.
For more from Ella Road and series showrunner Chris Chibnall, check out the latest issue of Radio Times on sale now. Subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door, and for more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.
Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 17th April. All 13 series of Doctor Who are available to watch now on Prime Video – sign up for a Prime Video free trial.
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