Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall rumored to quit ‘Doctor Who’ in 2019

Can this be the last season for these two new stars?

Susan Hewitt

Jodie Whittaker, the first female Doctor, and Chris Chibnall, the current showrunner of “Doctor Who,” are both rumored to leave the show after season 12.

Taking over as showrunner starting at the current season 11, Chibnall was originally set to release each season at 18 month intervals. This would mean releasing three seasons in five years, but with the success of the Sunday night “Doctor Who” shows, BBC want him to release more, according to Outpost Skaro. Now, Chibnall must release an entire “Doctor Who” season each year. This, along with unnamed “unsatisfactory” conditions at BBC could be the reason as to why Chibnall would quit.

Steven Moffat, the former showrunner for “Doctor Who,” passed the title to Chibnall in 2016, but there is reason to believe Chibnall did not want the position in the first place.

“I like doing different things,” says Chris Chibnall in an interview with Starburst Magazine back in 2013. “For me, to be able to do “United,” and “Dinosaurs,” and “Broadchurch,” that’s what’s really exciting to me as a writer. I love nipping in and doing a “Doctor Who,” but I love that I don’t have to run it, frankly! I love that that’s Steven’s problem!”

With the success of his show “Broadchurch,” Chibnall may have been forced into the position by BBC, or he simply changed his mind since the interview.

Rumors claim Jodie Whittaker may leave after season 12 of “Doctor Who” as well because Chibnall would be leaving. Whittaker knows Chibnall from “Broadchurch,” so their friendship would be reason for Whittaker to quit if Chibnall stopped running the show.

Outpost Skaro claims Whittaker may quit because the annual release of each season could be “too much for the young mum.” Jodie Whittaker has a 3-year-old daughter so leaving the show to take care of the toddler seems plausible.

Production has started for season 12 according to both Starburst Magazine and Radio Times. If this season is the last for showrunner Chibnall and star Whittaker, hopefully it will end their time in “Doctor Who” with a bang. 

BBC One

The Doctor must be polygamous

A list of wives before the Doctor married River Song

We all know of the Doctor's wife River Song (Alex Kingston), a woman whose timeline runs in the opposite direction as the Doctor, but River Song is far from being the first wife of the Doctor.

BBC One

Here are six other people the Doctor married before River Song: 

6. Queen Elizabeth I

BBC One

We all remember the quick courtship and marriage of the Doctor and Queen Elizabeth I in the "Doctor Who" television series. In the episode 'The Day of the Doctor,' the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) proposes to Elizabeth I (Joanna Page), believing her to be a shapeshifting Zygon. By the time the Doctor realized she was not a Zygon but the real Queen Elizabeth I, they had already married.

5. Scarlette

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Scarlette was a woman running a brothel in 18th century London. In the novel "The Adventures of Henrietta Street," she and the Eight Doctor married to symbolically unite the Doctor to Earth to fight against vampiric Babewyns.

4. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

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Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was a 17th century English writer and poet. In the "Doctor Who" novel, "Only Human," the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) once married Lady Montagu for love, or so companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) indicates.

3.  Time Lady Patience

Claire Lyxa

Patience was a Time Lady who was the Fifth Doctor's wife in the novel "Cold Fusion." Don't worry though, she also had two other husbands just like the Doctor later had six other wives. It seems the Time People are a polygamous people.

2.  Cleopatra

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It is unknown which Doctor married Cleopatra, but there have been references to their marriage. In "The Husbands of River Song," River was accusing The 12th Doctor of promiscuity, and listed Cleopatra's name. The 10th Doctor also called her "Cleo" in "The Girl in The Fireplace."

The 12th Doctor also insinuated that she was no beauty, stating that she would be only if her bedchamber were the size of Earth and no other handmaidens were around. Let's just say, the two are definitely separated.

1. Marilyn Monroe

The 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) met Marilyn Monroe at a Hollywood party in 1952, where he "accidentally" accepted her marriage proposal. He did, however, end up leaving the party with her to get married at a chapel the Doctor later claims was illegitamate in the episode "A Christmas Carol." 

In the video, you can hear the Doctor tell Marilyn to "get in the car."

The Doctor has a long, timey-wimey past with so many people and things in it. What we will know is how, out of all these wives, River Song was the best match for the Doctor as she always kept him on his toes by keeping secrets of his future.

And River Song was not monogamous either; she had two other husbands, in the Christmas special, "The Husbands of River Song.

Hopefully we can see River Song again, even if their timelines were "closed" in "The Husbands of River Song."

Demons of the Indian Partition

A review of a tragic history lesson by 'Doctor Who'

BBC America/Ben Blackall

It is the same old “Doctor Who,” yet the 13th Doctor brings a few refreshing changes along with her. One of these changes is evident in the most recent episode, and the most interesting one this season, “The Demons of Punjab,” as it reveals companion Yaz’s tragic family history.

“The Demons of Punjab” is not the first episode of “Doctor Who” to explore Indian history, but it feels like it to many who have only seen the new series. But it is more than just another typical adventure into history with aliens thrown in; it’s about the people of history.   

With reviewing the history of the Indian Partition of 1947 between India and Pakistan, the audience witnesses neighbors and family literally torn apart because of hate. It tore apart communities of Hindus and Muslims that once co-existed but soon hated each other because of their differences, something explicitly stated in the episode. The Doctor takes her companions Yaz, Graham, and Ryan back through time and space to witness the partition rip apart Yaz’s family because of newfound hate between Muslims and Hindus.

The episode tugs on heartstrings with its references of death and war and makes both political and social comments to today’s world, where hate truly tears people apart, not just external forces. Just like a normal “Doctor Who” episode, the Doctor faces aliens who are seen as a threat to the people involved. However, as is the new theme of this season, the aliens are not truly “the bad guys.” In fact, these aliens show off the better special effects of the new series.

To those who enjoyed the Rosa Parks episode “Rosa” and the old “Doctor Who” series that focused less on the aliens and more on history and people, “The Demons of Punjab” is another hit that delves into the strength of people in history. This episode combines the strengths of the old series and its attention on characterization with the new special effects and social context, which truly makes this episode great. "The Demons of Punjab" truly holds the best of both worlds.