New information has come from the BBC One Doctor Who website which indicates that Chris Chibnall co-wrote the fifth episode of Series 12, Fugitive of the Judoon with Vinay Patel.
This is a possible indication that Chris Chibnall’s contribution to the episode has something to do with a major revelation as part of his overarching plan for the series.
Jodie Whittaker mentioned that Chris Chibnall has a plan for Doctor Who during his time as the showrunnner while speaking in a cast panel at the Paley Center in New York City on January 5.
I was able to see the panel live streamed in an American theater and can exclusively share what Whittaker said:
“I think the beauty of Chris’ writing is that nothing is an accident so these things that maybe feel as if they were in an episode (2) of Season 11 and then forgotten about – weren’t. And I think you don’t necessarily always rush to get the answer. So it’s not to say that you won’t discover something but it’s not… You’re not going to be denied but… the beauty of this show is that it goes on and on and on and also maybe some things, a few, are answered and maybe some things aren’t and I think that’s why you’ve got to keep watching [laughs].”
She spoke again of Chris Chibnall’s approach later in the panel:
“It’s that creation of having the freedom of the showrunner to bring your voice and your energy to something give us our energies. And we’re really lucky because you never feel shoehorned into a particular idea. There’s always room for us to bring things. But we are lucky because we are looked after by Chibnall, who’s the old-school Whovian. So, for him, all this has been plotted out. He has wanted to write this since he was a kid so the choice of when and how – it isn’t a manic decision.”
So what could possibly be the alleged revelation in Fugitive of the Judoon?
First, there’s obviously the mystery of the identity of fugitive the Judoon are hunting. The possible suspects besides the Doctor and her companions are popular Gloucester tour guide Ruth Clayon (Jo Martin), her husband Lee Clayton (Neil Stuke) and Gat (Ritu Arya). The solution to the fugitive mystery could be written by either Vinay Patel or Chris Chibnall.
So what is the part that Chris Chibnall might have penned? There was an unintentional hint in a photo in the Twitter post (now deleted) of a crew member during director Nida Manzoor’s filming block that shows the familiar roundels of an original-design TARDIS interior.
What could that mean? We’ll have to wait and see.
Fugitive of the Judoon airs Sunday, January 26 on BBC at 7:10 p.m. and on BBC America at 8:00 p.m.