Did Doctor Who already introduce Jodie Whittaker’s replacement?

With rumors of Jodie Whittaker leaving Doctor Who making the rounds, die-hard Whovians are speculating whether her replacement has already been introduced.

Of late, there have been rumors circulating that Jodie Whittaker may leave the role of the Doctor on Doctor Who after filming the upcoming 13th season, and Whovians all over the world are reacting.

If Whittaker does depart, she would follow predecessors David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi in playing the Doctor for three seasons. On the other hand, if the rumors don’t pan out and she stays on for a year after that, she’d be the longest-running Doctor in the franchise since the reboot began in 2005. She’s already made history as the first woman to ever play the character, so maybe she’ll go ahead and break another record.

But considering that neither she nor the BBC are denying the rumors, we think they’re probably true. And that means people are starting to think about who might play the next Doctor…unless we’ve already met her? In season 12, the Doctor meant a previous regeneration of herself we didn’t previously know about, played by Jo Martin. Some, including Screen Rant, wonder if she might not just step into the role.

That would be exciting, not least of all because it would mark the first time a person of color had headlined the show, but it would also mean challenging the show’s timeline in some knotty ways. You see, Jo Martin’s version of the Doctor existed before what was previously thought to be the very first Doctor, played by William Hartnell back in the 1960s. The revelation that Jo Martin’s Doctor exists raises all kinds of question. How many other iterations are out there? What else is the Doctor forgetting?

We didn’t get much closure on that front (yet), but surely we’d learn more if Jo Martin was at the head of the cast. And the Fugitive Doctor was on the show long before the rumors of Whittaker’s exit began, so if she is the new “official” Doctor, the seeds were planted early. And for those wondering how a previous Doctor could come back, it’s possible that the 13th Doctor just regenerates back into Jo Martin now that she’s been exposed to her past self.

I’m not sure how I feel about Whittaker leaving (if she actually is), but I am very intrigued about this unknown Doctor and her history.

With all these rumors going around, fans of Whittaker have been taking to social media to share their love and support for her time as the Doctor:

It’s clear most of us are not ready to say goodbye to Whittaker just yet, so until we have official confirmation, let’s just pretend these rumors don’t exist, yeah?

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h/t Radio Times