The BBC may have just dropped a significant hint as to who Peter Capaldi’s successor as the Timelord will be on ‘Doctor Who’.

At the end of Monday night’s (July 3rd) episode of ‘Newsnight’, presenter Evan Davis suggested that ‘Fleabag’ actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge would be the next Doctor on the long-running BBC sci-fi series.

“If you watched ‘Doctor Who’ on Saturday there were some pretty heavy hints that the next Doctor might be a woman,” Davis said to camera. “Well the bookies’ favourite Phoebe Waller-Bridge has denied claims that she’s going to be the first female Doctor… But then Joanna Lumley has already played the role for Comic Relief, so that would technically be true.”

Phoebe Waller-BridgeIs Phoebe Waller-Bridge to be the 13th Doctor?

Davis then threw it over to a YouTube clip of 31 year old Waller-Bridge being asked about the role in an interview, saying the actress may “already have given the game away”.

“I am not allowed to say anything about that one way or the other. It would be cool – but I’m doing other stuff,” the star says in the clip.

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Then, a regeneration graphic appeared over her face before ‘Newsnight’ then played out to the sound of the ‘Doctor Who’ theme tune. Social media was promptly awash with rumours that the BBC had accidentally confirmed Waller-Bridge as the 13th Doctor.

After Capaldi finishes his role as the Timelord this Christmas, which he has held down since 2013, the speculation is rampant that his successor will be a female Doctor. Michaela Coel, the creator and star of Channel 4’s ‘Chewing Gum’, is another one of the contenders, as is ‘Broadchurch’s Olivia Coleman.

For their part, Waller-Bridge’s agents DryWhite eventually decided to spike the rumours, writing on their Twitter page on Wednesday afternoon: “We can confirm that Phoebe is not the next Doctor Who. Pls save the betting people their money!”

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