Are 'Doctor Who' About To Show the TARDIS Regenerating On Screen for the First Time?

Warning: This article will contain spoilers from Doctor Who: Flux - Read at your own risk

It was announced earlier this year that Jodie Whittaker will be passing the Sonic Screwdriver onto someone new, as she and current showrunner, Chris Chibnall will be leaving the hit BBC sci-fi show in the autumn of 2022.

Whittaker has been the Thirteenth Doctor for nearly five years, after it was announced in 2017 she will be replacing Peter Capaldi. Whittaker's final series titled Doctor Who: Flux finished at the weekend, meaning there are just three more episodes left with Whittaker in the role. New Year's Day will see the TARDIS team battle the Daleks again before heading off for an Easter special adventure. Whittaker will then bow out in the Centenary Special in the autumn next year, celebrating 100 years of the BBC.

As we saw from the get go in Doctor Who: Flux, the TARDIS began to breakdown as a consequence of time going wrong and the Flux wiping out the universe. With the pillars leaking and falling apart and cobwebs taking over the console room, it's clear the TARDIS isn't in a healthy state. With 13 regenerating next year, will the TARDIS regenerate with her?

It's (almost) a tradition that every Doctor gets a brand new TARDIS interior (and sometimes exterior) when they take over the role, with some Doctors getting more than one.

With the TARDIS dying in Doctor Who: Flux, it raises the question of will the TARDIS regenerate with the Doctor come the Centenery Special next autumn. It was revealed last month that the Thirteenth Doctor's TARDIS interior is in the process of being dismantled and put into storage. In a post no longer available on Instagram, a user put a photo up of a hexagonal piece of the TARDIS back wall with the comment:

"When you know someone working on #drwho and you get asked would you like a piece of the #tardis set as it’s being pulled down!!! Yes!!!! YES!! Inner geek gone mad!! Thank you @xemm93 ;)”

With the TARDIS being dismantled, does this mean the new Doctor has been cast and filmed their half of the regeneration?

It was hinted in Doctor Who: Flux that the TARDIS was dying due to time being messed around with as the Flux takes out the universe. However, after the Weeping Angel took over the TARDIS at the end of "Once, Upon Time", the cobwebs began to grow even more and have remained in place ever since. At the end of "The Vanquishers", the cobwebs are yet to be dusted away.

In the promotional images (and the trailer!) for the New Year's Day special "Eve of the Daleks", the TARDIS is still breaking down, but on the outside this time. With the TARDIS and the team stuck in a timeloop with the Daleks, is there more here than what we're being told?

With the Fourteenth Doctor yet to be announced and Whittaker's TARDIS interior being dismantled, are we about to see the Doctor and the TARDIS regenerate together?

It's hinted that the Fourteenth Doctor is yet to film their half of the regeneration, leaving the question on where the regeneration takes place. If it does happen in the TARDIS (which is a New Who era tradition!), will the Doctor use her regeneration energy to heal herself and repair the TARDIS at the same time and give it a fresh new look? Or does the regeneration take place out in the open?

The Doctor using regeneration energy to repair the TARDIS has never been shown on screen before, and with Chibnall bringing all these shocks, twists, and turns into the show, regeneration may just get even more epic!

Russell T Davies returns as showrunner for the 60th anniversary and series beyond in 2023, so we know the future of the show is in safe hands, but what designs will they opt for for the new TARDIS come the 60th anniversary?

For now, the dying TARDIS mystery appears to continue into Whittaker's final three episodes across 2022. Sit tight, we're in for a wild ride!