Doctor Who 2022 director Jamie Magnus Stone has revealed that the production team has made a drastic change to how Jodie Whittaker's regeneration will play out in the BBC centenary special later this year.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Stone (who has directed the special) spilled the beans on the shooting process and how everything played out as Jodie shot her final scenes as the Thirteenth Doctor.
He said: "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. But before that, there were so many tears."
As for that big change he's revealed, it turns out Jodie's regeneration won't be taking place inside the TARDIS. Although the Doctor's time-traveling police box will be present in the final few scenes of the show, Jodie will be going against the grain and regenerating somewhere else entirely.
Talking about shooting those final scenes, Stone added: "Everybody clapped her — and Mandip [Gill], 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. And it was mostly Jodie and Mandip’s scenes on that last day. So it was just super-emotional.”
This seemingly confirms that the early rumors that we may not see Jodie Whittaker regenerate aren't true and that the show is still be giving the Thirteenth Doctor the send-off she deserves. Now only one big question remains... who will replace Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who?!
Doctor Who returns for two more specials in 2022, the first of which is called 'The Legend of the Sea Devils' which is expected to air around Easter.
You can watch previous seasons of the show on BBC iPlayer and on BBC America in the US.
