Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
So sad to leave, but I Had the best Time
Jodie Whittaker on her devastation at leaving Doctor Who after 4 years
JODIE Whittaker is heartbroken as she prepares to pass on the sonic screwdriver after four years as Doctor Who.
As filming wrapped on her final episodes she was in tears saying goodbye to the crew, who kept the shoot going for nearly a year through the pandemic.
Jodie, 39, said: “I lost it, I was absolutely gone, crying my eyes out. I know that this is the best time I will ever have on a job. I’ve felt like that from the start.”
Launching on Halloween the new series tells one story, Flux, across six episodes, followed by three specials to air next year.
Preparing to hand over the role to whoever becomes the 14th Doctor, Jodie said: “Letting go of it, I’ll be filled with a lot of grief – even thinking about it makes me upset. But this show needs new energy. “The joy of this part is that you hand on your boots. I don’t know who to, but whoever it is, what a thing to be able to go: ‘You’re going to
have a right time.’ If everyone comes up to you forever going, ‘I’m a Doctor Who fan’, that’s an absolute joy. Of all the things you’re always going to be associated with, thank God it’s the thing I’ve loved so much.”
She is full of praise for
Mandip Gill, who plays the Doctor’s loyal sidekick
Yaz. Jodie says: “Being on set every day with Mandip is amazing because she’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.
She’s like a rock – but a really funny rock.”
For Mandip, a highlight was competing with Jodie on a stunt for the first episode when they hang upside down above an acid ocean. She said: “I got a clap for doing extra twirls, because I wanted to out-twirl Jodie!” Comedian John Bishop, who plays new companion Dan Lewis, could only take the part offered by outgoing writer Chris Chibnall because his stand-up tour was cancelled due to Covid. John said: “We had a conversation about a character Chris had thought of but I was going on tour so I reluctantly said I couldn’t do it. Then the tour was suspended and I could do it.”
He added: “It had brilliant
scripts, incredible people, friendships that will last beyond this. It’s one of those things I’ll look back on and go, ‘Wow, I was lucky to do that’.”
Chibnall said the restrictions meant the new run turned out very differently to how it was originally planned.
He said: “We had to reinvent it.
We could do lots of little stories set in a room with two people or we could blow up the universe, go from there. We went with blowing up the universe. There are lots of cliffhangers, some of our biggest ever.”
Chibnall will now hand over to returning showrunner Russell T Davies.
This year’s guest stars include Cold Feet’s Robert Bathurst, Pirates of the Caribbean star Kevin Mcnally, Unforgotten’s Sara Powell and two former stars of Line of Duty – Craig Parkinson and Rochenda Sandall.
The BBC’S Piers Wenger said it would be the “rollercoaster to end all rollercoasters” with the “biggest ever threat”.
Doctor Who, BBC1, Sunday October 31.
Letting go of it, I’ll be filled with a lot of grief but this show needs new energy JODIE ON GIVING UP THE ROLE OF DOCTOR WHO