'Doctor Who' Companions Spotted Filming Without Whittaker—Is This the Return of the "Doctor-Lite" Tradition?

Doctor Who Series 11 flew by as Jodie Whittaker was introduced properly as the 13th Doctor, who was accompanied by three new companions Graham (Bradley Walsh), Ryan (Tosin Cole), and Yaz (Mandip Gill). The 11th series was run by new showrunner, Chris Chibnall—Steven Moffat’s replacement—who previously wrote for the show before being in charge.

Whittaker and her companions have all been confirmed for Series 12, along with Chibnall running the next series as well. After Series 11 finished airing, it was confirmed that Doctor Who would be taking a year’s break and won’t be returning until “very early” 2020. However, filming for Series 12 is well underway with the cast spotted all around the world. The cast recently flew back over to Cape Town, South Africa for filming, as well as filming in Doctor Who’s home city, Cardiff, South Wales.

Last week, the companions had been spotted in Barry filming for the new series wearing formal wear, but where is Jodie Whittaker?

Pictured above, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill are all dressed sharply, with Walsh and Cole in tuxedos and Gill in a shirt and blazer. It is reported the picture above was for a scene involving their mobile phones.

Fans gathered around the scene to snap some pictures and selfies with the cast, but the question on everyone’s lips was where is Jodie Whittaker?

There are a few theories as to why Whittaker wasn’t spotted on location with the rest of the cast, all of which are potentially true in one way or another. The first theory is an obvious one: Jodie was filming a separate scene in Barry in another location, possibly inside a building.

Another theory—a less likely one—is that this episode spotted filming is actually a Doctor-Lite story, making the episode double-banked. A Doctor-Lite episode is a term that was introduced by the Doctor Who production team in Wales, which they used to describe a Doctor Who episode/story that hardly involves the Doctor at all—usually just a few scenes. Typically, a Doctor-Lite episode is double-banked, meaning one production team is out filming one episode, whereas, at the same time, a separate production team is out filming a different episode. So, could one production team be out in Barry filming one episode involving the companions in formal wear and another team out and about with Whittaker?

One of the most notable Doctor-Lite stories is Steven Moffat’s "Blink" back in 2007. David Tennant (the 10th Doctor) and Freema Agyeman) were absent for almost the entire episode; however, they had a few scenes throughout involving them. The episode, which introduced the Weeping Angels, focussed primarily on Sally Sparrow—the companion that could’ve been, but never was.

There’s still every chance that Whittaker simply had the afternoon off as she wasn’t required for the scene, but Bradley Walsh was spotted filming for a night shoot a few nights before being spotted in formal wear, which creates more theories that Whittaker isn’t in this episode much.

On the other hand, if Whittaker is in the episode for the same amount of time as the companions like normal, the next questions is will she be wearing formal wear too? Fans have been discussing the possibility of Whittaker rocking the 10th Doctor’s ("Voyage of the Damned") tuxedo (imagine that!) for the episode? Let’s be honest, there are loads of fans out there that would love to see this happen, but for now, we have absolutely no idea. Keep those fingers crossed, Whovians.

Doctor Who Series 12 filming continues ahead of its "very early" 2020 release date.