A Whittaker's replacement as Doctor Who is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Alongside Whittaker, showrunner Chibnall will also depart following the final Doctor Who special. With each Doctor Who season a combination of episodes written by the showrunner and guest writers — from budding writers to bigger names such Neil Gaiman and Richard Curtis — Chibnall's run has seen the inclusion of a new host of screenwriters. The combination of enlisting the showrunner and other writers, though perhaps primarily for practical purposes, helps provide Doctor Who with one of the reasons for its longevity: its variety of stories. One of these writers is Pete McTighe, who penned Doctor Who season 11 episode "Kerblam!" and co-wrote season 12 episode "Praxeus" with Chibnall.
As reported by Radio Times, Pete McTighe revealed to National World that he was enlisted to write an episode for Doctor Who season 13 (which became Doctor Who: Flux). However, McTighe was also busy with his crime show, The Pact, when the pandemic struck. Shooting dates for The Pact then changed, meaning McTighe was unavailable during the production period of Doctor Who season 13. McTighe, however, plans to "hold on" to his planned story for the episode, since "Doctor Who ideas are never dead." Read the full quote below:
"I was going to come and do series 13. I was doing The Pact at the same time – when COVID happened, we had to move our shooting dates for The Pact, which meant that I was kind of taken out for the production period of Doctor Who. We shot The Pact series 1 at the same time Doctor Who was shooting. We were shooting, actually, in quarries next door to each other at one stage. They were in a quarry shooting the Sontaran episode, and we were literally over the road in the woods shooting The Pact. I’ll hold on to it, because Doctor Who ideas are never dead. Hopefully one day I’ll get to use it."
The pandemic did more to derail Doctor Who's plans than merely the scrapping of McTighe's episode. Season 13 was reduced from the 11 episodes that comprised seasons 11 and 12 to just six, becoming the single-story Flux. Doctor Who: Flux received mostly positive reviews from critics, though the final episode generally enjoyed less positive assessments. Many viewers were left underwhelmed and confused by Flux as a whole, with some saying they were mystified by the season's arc and plotline, as well as the apparent retconning of much of Time Lord history.
Though McTighe, a lifelong Doctor Who fan, is hopeful of having his idea used on a future episode, he may be waiting some time. The actor and writer Stephen Fry wrote an episode for Doctor Who season 2 in 2006, focusing on the alien origins of the Arthurian legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The episode, however, was moved into season 3 and then delayed once more, this time seemingly indefinitely. Alongside that, returning showrunner Russell T. Davies has revealed that several episodes of Doctor Who season 14 have already been written. What's more, with plans underway for the Doctor Who 60th anniversary next year, McTighe might be waiting a while before his idea comes to fruition — and can only hope it won't be as long as Fry.
Source: Radio Times