Despite Newsnight insisting that it was so, it looks like Phoebe Waller-Bridge won’t be Peter Capaldi’s replacement in Doctor Who after all.
Although the star and writer of Fleabag is currently busy with the Han Solo Star Wars film and new stateside series Killing Eve, on Tuesday Newsnight ended its programme with a piece on Waller-Bridge accidentally outing herself as the new Doctor in a recent interview where she could neither confirm nor deny her involvement in Chris Chibnall’s first series.
Has the new Doctor Who accidentally outed herself? #newsnight pic.twitter.com/Ugel3oYRrU
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) 4 July 2017
Did Newsnight know something we didn’t? Had they just announced the new Doctor in the least dramatic way possible – in a section of the programme usually reserved for novelty items or, back in the day, Jeremy Paxman’s ire towards audience engagement.
Well, no. Apparently not.
Waller-Bridge’s theatre company DryWrite, which the actress runs with Fleabag stage director Vicky Jones, has since taken to Twitter to put an end to all the rumours and hopefully save some of you from having a bet on her.
We can confirm that Phoebe is not the next Doctor Who. Pls save the betting people their money! Thanks❤️@stuheritage @guardian @DrWhoOnline
— DryWrite (@DryWrite) 5 July 2017
So just who is taking over the TARDIS when Capaldi departs at Christmas? Will it be Kris Marshall? Will it be Andrew Lee Potts? Could it in fact be Lenny Henry?
Doctor Who will return this Christmas.