Considering the rate at which the ratings have fallen off a cliff since Whittaker took over, she might not be replaced by anyone if this next season doesn't turn things around. (Leaving aside the issue of whether or not making the Doctor a woman was a good idea or not, the last couple of seasons have just had a lot of slipshod writing, with scripts that don't make any sense written by people who obviously don't "get" the show or sci-fi in general, and three companions are at least one too many for them all to have anything meaningful to do in an episode.)
The idea of the Doctor regenerating into a non-human(ish) species or appearance has been floated before; it's one of those perennial "let's get the fans all spun up" rumors that pops up whenever there's talk of the current actor leaving the role and a new actor coming in. Realistically, it's not going to happen, certainly not in the current environment -- Chibnall can't even handle the logistics of producing a mere ten episodes a year on a consistent schedule as it is; does anyone seriously think he could manage a production where his lead actor (or actress) has to spend four hours a day, every day, in the makeup chair putting on extensive prosthetics, assuming the BBC would even spring for the increased production costs?
Considering the rate at which the ratings have fallen off a cliff since Whittaker took over, she might not be replaced by anyone if this next season doesn't turn things around. (Leaving aside the issue of whether or not making the Doctor a woman was a good idea or not, the last couple of seasons have just had a lot of slipshod writing, with scripts that don't make any sense written by people who obviously don't "get" the show or sci-fi in general, and three companions are at least one too many for them all to have anything meaningful to do in an episode.)
The idea of the Doctor regenerating into a non-human(ish) species or appearance has been floated before; it's one of those perennial "let's get the fans all spun up" rumors that pops up whenever there's talk of the current actor leaving the role and a new actor coming in. Realistically, it's not going to happen, certainly not in the current environment -- Chibnall can't even handle the logistics of producing a mere ten episodes a year on a consistent schedule as it is; does anyone seriously think he could manage a production where his lead actor (or actress) has to spend four hours a day, every day, in the makeup chair putting on extensive prosthetics, assuming the BBC would even spring for the increased production costs?