No hanky panky for Doctor Jodie
Doctor Who will steer clear of romance to avoid a potential public backlash.
Executives on the show are keen to keep newcomer Jodie, 36, pictured right – who makes her BBC One debut next month as the first female timelord – from becoming “too involved” with male or female characters so they aren’t accused of over-sexualising her. They have also not even determined her sexuality.
“There will be no love for this Doctor at this stage,” says a source at BBC America. “David Tennant and Billie Piper’s Doctor and Rose were lovebirds and Matt
Smith married Riversong and confessed he loved Karen
Gillan’s Amy Pond. “However, the suggestion of this timelord ‘fancying anyone’ is off the table, although there are early plans to introduce an alien who may have enjoyed a relationship with her that is, of course, complicated.
“The Beeb’s top brass are keen to steer away from having any sexual undertones and the show team are very keen to keep the element of overt sexuality out of this first series.” And writer Malorie
Blackman hopes that series 11 – which will see Jodie joined by three new companions, Ryan (Tosin Cole), Yasmin (Mandip Gill) and Graham (Bradley Walsh) – will continue to surprise fans.
“Part of the joy of writing for Doctor Who is to try to surprise your audience, no matter what their age,” she says. “I love unpredictability – where you introduce the unexpected, even into a story the audience may already think they know.”