JODIE BROUGHT DOCTOR WHO ITS BIGGEST CHANGE
When she got the news of her casting as the protagonist of Doctor Who, actor Jodie Whittaker went through a range of overwhelmed reactions. She cried, caught her breath, and excitedly squeezed the knee of a colleague sitting next to her. Getting to inherit the role of a widely-recognised time-travelling, space-faring adventurer, “wasn’t part of [her] mindset as an actress, that it was possible”.
For Whittaker, 36, who until now was best-known for her work on the British crime drama Broadchurch, the opportunity was life-altering — just as it would be for any performer — a guarantee that it would familiarise her to a global audience of millions. Added to that was the distinction that in the 55-year history of the show, none of the 12 actors to have portrayed the Doctor was a woman.
Despite its challenges, Whittaker says it was a role she could hardly resist. “There’s no other job like it,” she says. Whittaker had gained early attention for her roles in films such as Venus (2006) and Attack the Block (2011) before her breakthrough role in Broadchurch came along. This role was to become crucial when Steven Moffat, showrunner of Doctor Who since 2009, decided to move on, and the network turned to Chris Chibnall, Broadchurch’s writer, for the job.
Having grown up on beloved 1980s genre films Back to the Future (1985), The Goonies (1985) and E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial (1982), Whittaker wasn’t discouraged with the dearth of female protagonists to identify with. But when it came to Doctor Who, she says, “The thought that I could be in it never crossed my mind.” And when Chibnall asked her to consider auditioning for him, the actor says, “I was like, ‘Can I play a monster with loads of prosthetics?’” Then Chibnall explained that he wanted her to try out for the starring role.
And if some of the show’s audience was disappointed by the departure of Peter Capaldi (her predecessor who transforms into Whittaker), she says that reflected well on the series. “If someone is devastated at the loss of him, it just means the show is loved. If the fact that I’m a woman is an issue, that’s their issue. I can’t even begin to debate that,” the actor says.