However, Chibnall has revealed that he almost bowed out as showrunner two years ago.<\/p>\n
The Doctor Who writer told the latest edition of Radio Times<\/strong> magazine<\/strong> that he nearly left the show when the pandemic hit in early 2020, saying in an interview: \u201cThat we made Doctor Who at all during the past two years is a miracle.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a point around April\/May 2020 where it looked like we\u2019d have to call it a day after two series. If we hadn\u2019t already planned to leave after series 3, there\u2019s no way I\u2019d be staying on now after going through that experience.\u201d<\/p> Chibnall and Whittaker did of course stay with the show during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their plans for a full season were cut down to the six-episode event that was Flux, while a New Year\u2019s special had to be scrapped at the last minute.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to ditch our original idea and I had to write a new script in just over a week,\u201d Chibnall said. \u201cYou can\u2019t just go, \u2018Right, we\u2019ve got the series and then we\u2019ll do the specials.\u2019 You\u2019re constantly on this treadmill.\u201d<\/p>\n Former showrunner Russell T Davies is set to take back the Doctor Who reins in 2023, with Chibnall saying that he expects the screenwriter to \u201cignore\u201d the changes<\/a> he made to the BBC One series.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Read the full exclusive Chris Chibnall interview in the new edition of Radio Times, on sale now.\u00a0Subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door, and for more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/em><\/p>\n Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer<\/a>\u00a0on Sunday 17th April. All 13 series of Doctor Who are available to watch now on Prime Video \u2013 sign up for a\u00a0Prime Video free trial<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n For more news, interviews and features, check out our dedicated\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0page or our full\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 12 April 2022 at 12:00 am Fans will be saying goodbye to Doctor Who\u2018s Chris Chibnall and the Thirteenth Doctor herself Jodie Whittaker after three seasons when the pair\u2019s final 2022 special airs later this year. However, Chibnall has revealed that he almost bowed out as showrunner two years ago. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13711,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-almost-left-doctor-who-in-2020.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 12 April 2022 at 12:00 am Fans will be saying goodbye to Doctor Who\u2018s Chris Chibnall and the Thirteenth Doctor herself Jodie Whittaker after three seasons when the pair\u2019s final 2022 special airs later this year. However, Chibnall has revealed that he almost bowed out as showrunner two years ago.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/13710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/1-SE-16-2-Cover1-7a41395.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C827"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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