Is Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge in line to become the next Doctor? Turns out the soon-to-be Han Solo actress has been ruled out of the race…again.
Doctor Who fans were placed on red alert yesterday evening after a Newsnight report asserted that Waller-Bridge had hinted that she was in the running to become the Thirteenth Doctor in the 2017 Christmas Special. But not so fast! Those unsubstantiated claims were quickly debunked after DryWrite, the actress’ theatre company, took to Twitter to set the record straight: Phoebe Waller-Bridge is not the next Doctor, and that’s despite bookmakers labeling her the red-hot favorite in the aftermath of Newsnight’s faux pas.
It’s a little disappointing, of course, given how long fans have waited for a female Doctor to assume the mantle of BBC’s famous Time Lord. Bear in mind that there’s still a small chance that the response from Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her DryWrite production company is actually a red herring, one designed to redirect attention away from the actress lest the Thirteenth Doctor be revealed ahead of schedule. Chalk that up as innocent conjecture for now, but down below, you’ll see how that short-lived saga unfolded.
Per Twitter:
Has the new Doctor Who accidentally outed herself? #newsnight pic.twitter.com/Ugel3oYRrU
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) July 4, 2017
We can confirm that Phoebe is not the next Doctor Who. Pls save the betting people their money! Thanks❤️@stuheritage @guardian @DrWhoOnline
— DryWrite (@DryWrite) July 5, 2017
This echoes Waller-Bridge’s previous statement on the matter, too. During the BAFTA TV ceremony back in May – an event in which she was awarded Female Performance in a Comedy Programme – Digital Spy asked the actress whether she was in line to become the first female Doctor. Her response? “I am not going to be the first female Doctor, not that I know of.”
Now that season 10 has reached its jaw-dropping conclusion, Doctor Who won’t be back on our screens until the 2017 Christmas Special airs towards the end of the year. December 25th is often earmarked by the BBC for Who‘s festive bonanza, at which point we’ll finally know the identity of Doctor number 13 – male or female.