Doctor Who Christmas Special: Rachel Talalay directed Jodie Whittaker scenes

While the Doctor Who Christmas Special coming up is largely the departure of Peter Capaldi, it is also the introduction of Jodie Whittaker to many fans out there. This is a special that serves a pair of purposes at the same time, and it closes one door in order to open another.

What is so interesting about the special is that it is effectively a tale of two very different crews. The first part of the special is written by Steven Moffat with Capaldi as the lead, and then the end of it is written by new showrunner Chris Chibnall with Whittaker. There is, however, one person who is going to cross over between the two, and that is director Rachel Talalay.

In a new interview on the Radio Free Skaro podcast (quotes via the Radio Times), Talalay opened up about taking on this super-immense challenge, confirming in the process that she had offered up the opportunity for Chibnall to find his own director for Jodie’s scenes:

“I knew I was going to shoot both parts of the regeneration, but I did say to Chris Chibnall if you want a different director to introduce Jodie, you should have a different director, because he’s creating a whole new world … [Yet he] too was absolutely lovely and said no, we’re absolutely delighted it’s going to be you, and no one else. And so we sat down and talked about the Jodie portion of the regeneration, and it was wonderful.

“The thing I would love to talk about, and look forward to talking about in the future is how I planned Peter’s portion of the regeneration versus how I planned and shot Jodie’s because as a director, that was a really satisfying, interesting, fun challenge, and I’m really pleased with both sides of it.”

Could this mean that Talalay could return as a director for the series down the line? She’s suggested in the past that the Christmas Special could be her last but you never know what the future could hold. For now, the most important thing is that the series sticks the landing with their new Doctor. They seem to understand the importance of having Whittaker as the lead and for now, the priority is getting that right. As the weeks progress we imagine that all the more emphasis is going to be point on launching season 11 (likely premiering in 2018) the best way possible.

For now…

Be sure to visit the link here in the event you do want to see some more news on the Christmas Special, including a sneak preview that was just posted as a part of the BBC Children in Need special.

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