Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall almost left Doctor Who in 2020

The Doctor Who writer told the latest edition of Radio Times magazine that he nearly left the show when the pandemic hit in early 2020, saying in an interview: "That we made Doctor Who at all during the past two years is a miracle.

"There was a point around April/May 2020 where it looked like we’d have to call it a day after two series. If we hadn’t already planned to leave after series 3, there’s no way I’d be staying on now after going through that experience."

Chibnall and Whittaker did of course stay with the show during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their plans for a full season were cut down to the six-episode event that was Flux, while a New Year's special had to be scrapped at the last minute.

“We had to ditch our original idea and I had to write a new script in just over a week,” Chibnall said. "You can’t just go, ‘Right, we’ve got the series and then we’ll do the specials.’ You’re constantly on this treadmill."

Former showrunner Russell T Davies is set to take back the Doctor Who reins in 2023, with Chibnall saying that he expects the screenwriter to "ignore" the changes he made to the BBC One series.

Read more:

• Doctor Who’s next episode had a "mad, accelerated" production
• Doctor Who releases new Sea Devils behind-the-scenes pictures
• Jodie Whittaker on "revisiting" the Doctor after wrapping Doctor Who

Read the full exclusive Chris Chibnall interview in the new edition of Radio Times, on sale now. Subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door, and for more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.

Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils comes to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 17th April. All 13 series of Doctor Who are available to watch now on Prime Video – sign up for a Prime Video free trial.

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