Jodie Whittaker opens up about her impending Doctor Who exit: 'To me, this hasn't finished'

Back in July, Doctor Who fans across the globe were shocked to learn that the series would lose star Jodie Whittaker (the Thirteenth Doctor and the first woman to occupy the role) and showrunner Chris Chibnall after a trio of specials airing in 2022.

While Whittaker did release a poignant statement at the time, she has remained noticeably silent about the whole thing over the last several months. Until now, that is. While chatting with Shaun Keaveny on the most recent episode of The Line-Up podcast, the actress opened up about her impending exit and explained that it hasn't really sunk in for her yet.

"Well, it’s strange because announcing you’re the Doctor, it always happens at a very strange time," she said. "So you announce that you’re going to play the Doctor and it happens before ... you’ve stepped foot on set. So, that’s one big announcement and the very emotionally kind of contradicting thing is you announce you’re leaving, but you haven’t left. So I am still knee-deep in shooting. So, to me, this hasn’t finished — we haven’t wrapped the season."

Because Whittaker is still in the middle of production on her final batch of episodes, she doesn't have to face the reality of letting go of the character just yet. "I certainly haven’t finished doing any press on it, so I can pretend that I am not leaving for the rest of the year," she continued. "I’m still white-knuckling."

While we don't know who will be tapped to replace Whittaker as the next regeneration of the famous Time Lord, Doctor Who fans can rest easy knowing that the franchise is in good hands. Last week, it was announced that Russell T. Davies, the writer and producer who helped reboot the property in the mid-2000s, is coming back as showrunner in 2023.

Season 13 of Doctor Who premieres on the BBC this fall.