Jodie Whittaker will be killed off by the Daleks in the upcoming New Year’s Day special of Doctor Who. By that statement, it would seem the showrunners have decided to axe Whittaker’s incarnation a bit earlier than first intended. However, we do have three more episodes featuring Whittaker’s female Time Lord, and the good news is, she’ll definitely be sticking around until the end.
In the New Year’s Day special, titled “Eve of the Daleks”, the Doctor is exterminated by the deadly tin pots, only to be subsequently stuck in a time loop. In a conversation with The Radio Times, Whittaker opened up on the details surrounding the “Eve of the Daleks” plot.
“When I read this episode for the first time and in one of the opening moments get exterminated I genuinely thought, ‘Somebody has decided to write me out a bit sooner than I thought!’” says Whittaker. “It’s brilliant to play because the first time, for the Doctor, it’s as if you’re grasping at those seconds and that realisation that it could be your last moment.”
This won’t be the first time Whittaker’s incarnation of the Time Lord has come face to face with a time loop, as her companions became stuck within their time stream during “Once, Upon Time” the third episode in the most recent six-part series, Doctor Who: Flux. However, Whittaker adds that this special would mark “the first time in my career I’ve died so many times in an episode, there’s always a first!”.
John Bishop, who plays Dan, elaborated on the plot: “The problem that we face is that every time there’s a potential to interrupt them we get caught by them and get exterminated and have to start again.”
“Eve of the Daleks” will serve as Jodie Whittaker’s third New Year’s Day special to feature the metal pepper pots from Skaro, having made appearances in 2019’s “Resolution”, and last year’s “Revolution of the Daleks”.
If you’re all caught with Doctor Who and want a little bit more, then take a look at Flickluster’s reviews for Doctor Who: Flux.