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Jodie Whittaker has been announced as the 13th Doctor, taking control of the TARDIS in Doctor Who after Peter Capaldi hangs up his sonic screwdriver on Christmas Day.
I’m not 100% sure whether she’s the right decision for the part, but I know she’ll be a damn sight better than other contenders including Kris Marshall and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, from the godawful men-hating Fleabag.
It was teased towards the end of the last series that the Doctor could be a woman, with the exchange:
- Bill (in Cyberman form): “Stand… aside…”
Master (to The Doctor): “Is the future going to be ALL girl??!”
Doctor: “We can only hope.”
But then it would’ve been the first time a woman had taken the lead, and a lot of fans wouldn’t be happy about that because they’re stuck in the mud.
Who would I have preferred? I think Paterson Joseph (Peep Show) would’ve been a great choice, but they always wanted to go with someone younger since Capaldi doesn’t sell as many toys given he’s older.
Jodie Whittaker has previously taken a primary role in ITV’s Broadchurch, created by the new Who showrunner Chris Chibnall, and it was also often touted that if there was going to be a woman from that series that it could be the brilliant Olivia Colman. Or could it have been another man in the form of David Tennant? 😉
I think, from that series, the real left-field choice would’ve been Arthur Darvill, best known as Amy Pond’s other half, Rory.
Anyhoo, one of the plusses for Ms Whittaker is that, like with Matt Smith, I don’t know a huge amount of her work beforehand, so she has a much more blank slate than anyone else up for the role, so she could well be the better choice out of any of them.
One thing I have seen her in was the Black Mirror episode, The Entire History of You, opposite Toby Kebbell (Ben Hur). Damn, what I’d give to be able to record everything that I see while I’m out and about. That said, this week’s Click also had a bloke with a bionic eye who can record what he sees (although I don’t fancy losing an eye to do that).
And I’m glad that Steven Moffat is going. He showed great promise with episodes such as Blink, before he took over, but things went downhill with him in charge, just as when Russell T Davies did before him.
Check out the reveal below, and click on the top image for the full-size version.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.