In October of 2018, BBC did
something momentous in their long-running sci-fi adventure franchise “Doctor
Who.” After three series of the show from 2014 to 2017, Peter Capaldi would
retire from his role as the Twelfth Doctor, the twelfth known distinct iteration
of the time-traveling alien Time Lord known as “the Doctor,” who can “regenerate”
from mortal wounds with a change in appearance and personality. This was the
iconic plot mechanism used by the BBC to recast the character with different
actors since the original 1960s seasons. But Capaldi’s replacement as the
Thirteenth doctor was an actress, Jodie Whittaker, making the Doctor a female
character for the very first time.
Since her technical debut in the
2017 Christmas special, Jodie Whittaker has carried the role of the Thirteenth Doctor
of “Doctor Who” for the eleventh series and (ongoing) twelfth series of the
show on BBC One from 2018 to this 2020. Fans have been very receptive to the
character and thus it has been no surprise, as Entertainment Weekly tells us, that Whittaker has been confirmed to
reprise her Lady Doctor role for at least one more series, the thirteenth.
“Yes, I’m doing another season,” Whittaker
says in interview with EW. “That
might be a massive exclusive that I’m not supposed to say, but it’s unhelpful
for me to say [I don’t know] because it would be a massive lie!” The British
actress of film, television and stage remarked on how she adored playing the
playful but wise and fearlessly-exploring Time Lord, and is looking forward to
keep on doing it for as long as she could, considering she at age 37 is one of
the youngest Doctors cast. At some point, these shoes are going to be handed on,
but it’s not yet,” she adds. “I’m clinging on tight!”
The Jodie Whittaker-starring “Doctor
Who” series also features Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill as the main
character’s current roster of Companions, different iterations have accompanied
the many Doctors on their successive journeys across time, space and other
dimensions on the TARDIS time machine, disguised as a retro UK police box. The
current series premiered on BBC One on New Year’s Day 2020, and is already four
of its ten episodes (plus Christmas special) in. It also airs on BBC America,
and will join the other 11 series of the “Doctor Who” revival begun by BBC in
2005, on HBO Max later this year.
Image
courtesy of Digital Spy
