I'd heard rumours of Jodie leaving, but then there are always rumours so I didn't pay any attention...

I had the same thought.

Same here. Let's hope this final run is awesome. (It's going to be all one long story, rather than standalones, so it'll finally be Chibnall playing to his strengths.)

I have been wondering since series 11 why they chose to do episodic stuff again when most of television has moved away from that model and Chibnall was manifestly better when telling arcs ( Broadchurch Series 1 , anyone?)