In a new interview with Radio Times, Doctor Who stars Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill reflect on finishing filming on the Thirteenth Doctor era, filming in the pandemic, and leaving the series behind.
Whittaker reflects:
“I’m still very much the Doctor. I will be until I’m no longer on screen as the Doctor. When it’s my last day of shooting, that will certainly feel as if a huge part of my life is over. But as far as being the Doctor, I get to drag it out for as long as they put the episodes on for.”
“It’s only now in the last week or so there’s been some tears shed,” says Gill. “There is definitely something in the air now. We all realise that what we’ve been doing is coming to an end.”
Although she doesn’t rule out returning to play Yaz, it seems Gill is growing accustomed to the idea of leaving the show:
“When I started, I didn’t realise how significant it was taking over from other people, but now it’s happening to me. You’re not part of it, in that you don’t know what’s happening. Who are the companions? What are they going to do? I’m going to watch it, be nosey and think, ‘How’s it different to ours?’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jodie Whittaker touches on the agreement she made with series showrunner Chris Chibnall when she was first cast as the Doctor:
“Chris and I always said we were going to do three series together, but then when you get to it, it’s a very different thing. Sometimes it was like… ‘Are we sticking to this decision?’ There’s part of me that could absolutely say, ‘No, let’s keep going! Let’s go back on it!’ But to give the fans the level that they deserve, there has to be some sacrifice. You have to know when you’ve done it.”
She also shows she’s under no illusions about the fact that playing the Doctor is a role that stays with an actor far more than most other parts:
“This job has been, and continues to be, just extraordinary. And the thing is, I know it doesn’t end at the end anyway. Because you’re always the Doctor. You’re always someone’s Doctor, and what a wonderful thing and what a thing to treasure for ever. Frankly, I can dine out on this for ever.”
Doctor Who: Flux continues with Once, Upon Time on BBC1 on Sunday 14th November 2021 at 6:30pm.
