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Street Roots • Sept. 21-27, 2018
Culture
Jodie Whittaker knows ‘Doctor Who’
fans have high expectations, but she
never hesitated to become the first
woman to play the legendary lead
BY CHRISTIAN LISSEMAN
WHO'S NEXT
will give you everything you need to know and hopefully be
exciting enough for you to tune in again and again and again.”
Born in the village of Skelmanthorpe, England, the
here aren’t many roles on British television that
36-year-old actress has retained her broad Yorkshire accent.
garner the kind of media attention that Jodie
Her biggest role on television to date was playing distraught
Whittaker received last year, when it was announced
mother Beth Latimer in ITV’s “Broadchurch” crime drama.
that she would replace Peter Capaldi to play the time
That was written by Chris Chibnall, who is now the head
traveling alien called the Doctor in BBC’s long-running
writer and executive producer of “Doctor Who.” Chibnall
science fiction show “Doctor Who.”
replaces Steven Moffat, who has been the showrunner for
It’s been more than a year since that
.. v j - ■ the past eight years.
announcement, and Whittaker has been on a
“I’m an incredibly ambitious person,”
nine-month shoot that has taken her from
WATCH
I Whittaker said. “I have always wanted to take
Sheffield to South Africa, and no doubt to all
on roles that are challenging and that went
What: “Doctor Who”
corners of time and space, shooting the 10-part
against the grain and which excited me. It’s the
series. The show begins Sunday, Oct 7, on
When: Sunday nights
right place, right time, moment for me, in the
BBC America, relocating from its traditional
beginning Oct. 7
sense that Chris Chibnall knew me and felt my
Saturday night slot.
(time TBA)
energy was right to audition. If this had come
Whittaker is looking forward to the unveiling
to me younger, I might not have been at the
of the show.
Where: BBC America
right place in my mind to take it on, whereas
“After putting all this hard work into
now, I feel like it’s perfect Episode to episode,
something,” she said, speaking from London in
it’s like nothing I’ve ever done before, and it
the middle of a busy day promoting the series, “it feels really feels like a huge roller-coaster ride to be a part of.”
exciting to be able to now share it with fans and hopefully
One reason “Doctor Who” endures is undoubtedly its
gain some new fans.”
ability to change the lead actor when required, a tradition
Ah, yes. The fans. Now approaching its 55th birthday,
that began when the first person to play the Doctor (William
“Doctor Who” has amassed a number of hard-core fans over
Hartnell) retired from the show in 1966. Whittaker will be
the years, many of whom are old enough to remember the
the 13th Doctor, and the first woman to take on the role.
show before it was canceled in 1989 and brought back with
There was a media storm at the time in certain sections of
much fanfare in 2005. “Whovians,” as they are known, are an
the press, declaring fans’ outrage at the change, but despite
opinionated bunch. But despite the weight of their
the headlines, many fens were pleased at the
expectations, Whittaker said she never hesitated when
casting. That’s hot to say there wasn’t any
offered the role.
negative reaction to the news. The
“There wasn’t a second when I didn’t want to do it,” she
Amazon pre-order page for the DVD
said, “but it is a huge responsibility. The hard work of gaining of the new series reveals a
a fan base has already been done, but now it’s the hard work
number of one-star reviews
of maintaining i t ”
from fans who have
And Whittaker hopes she’ll attract some new fans, too.
written Whittaker off
“I think sometimes the mystique of “Doctor Who” is that
despite not having seen
you need to have this previous knowledge about everything
her in action.
that has gone before to watch it, but that’s not the case. I’m a
“It doesn’t affect me
new Whovian and I’ve been welcomed and included. If episode turning up and working
one or episode four (of the new series) is the first one you
really hard,” Whittaker
have ever seen, it’s a starting-off point because the episodes
said. “As long as I do the
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
T
work and honor what has gone before and take it in a new
direction, then I’m doing my job.”
And after all, she said, “I’m playing an alien! To suggest
that I’m not qualified to do that (because of my gender) is
hilarious. I mean, find me an actor who is qualified to play an
alien out there. I challenge you!”
As well as having a female lead, this year’s series will
feature more female writers than the series has ever known.
Three women, including author Malorie Blackman, will join
the series, meaning half the writer’s room will be female.
Whittaker credits Chibnall for this.
“(He) created a writer’s room that reflected what he sees
when he looks out of his window,” she said. “You can only
tell current, exciting stories that are from different points of
view, if you create a room that has those different points of
view in i t ”
She recognizes that there is still inequality behind the
camera, as well as in front of it, however.
“It’s obvious in the industry there is a huge difference
between the percentage of male writers and directors, and
female ones - and it’s certainly not due to lack of talent,” she
said. “There are extraordinary female writers and directors
out there, and that should be reflected in every writer’s
room.”
When Whittaker made her debut as the Doctor, in the
closing m in u tes of la st y e a r’s C h ristin as episode; “Twice
Upon a Time,” another thing that stood out was the Doctor’s
dialect. Her first line as the new Doctor, “Oh, brilliant!” was
spoken in her native northern accent Whittaker, who has
played many roles not using her own accent, most notably in
“Broadchurch,” says the use of her own accent doesn’t mean
the Doctor is suddenly from Yorkshire, however.
“Chris (Chibnall) just said use your own voice
when I started to audition. It didn’t feel wrong
in any way. And I think if I used a different
accent (for the role), then you’ye got to
discover why, why is that the choice? When
it’s just using your own voice, it’s not a
’ statement of any kind, you know, why not?”
Plus, she said, what with playing a
verbose alien who has a penchant for talking
about time travel, she has plenty to do in
the role already, without having to speak in
DOCTOR WHO’ THROUGH TIME
First broadcast Nov. 23,1963, “Doctor
Who” was intended to be a family show
with an educational emphasis on scientific
ideas, and famous people and civilizations
from history, such as Marco Polo and the
Aztecs. It was no coincidence that two of
the first companions to join the Doctor, Ian
Chesterton and Barbara Wright, were
teachers. However, the pepper pot-shaped
Daleks, the first real monsters to appear on
the show, became the real stars and
ensured the program’s survival after the
first series.
The first Doctor is a pretty unlikeable
character. He’s patronizing and
hoped this would lead to a new series, but
it never materialized. However, McGann did
get to revive his Doctor in a number of Big
Finish audio plays and in a couple of mini
cantankerous, and he effectively kidnaps
teachers lan and Barbara, whisking
them away against their will to the Stone
Age and immediately putting them in
mortal danger. His character mellows
over the course of the series, however,
and he soon becomes the kindly heroic
figure that we know and love today.
The longest-serving Doctor is Tom Baker,
who played the fourth incarnation of the
character from 1974 until 1981. He's still
regarded as one of the best Doctors and
made a cameo appearance in the 50th
anniversary episode of the show. The
award for shortest-lived Doctor goes to
Street Roots • Sept. 21-27, 2018
episodes shown as part of the 50th
anniversary celebrations.
After an unbroken run of 26 years, Doctor
Who was effectively canceled in 1989 due
to dwindling viewing figures. Michael
Grade, BBC director general at the time,
defended his decision, calling the show
“ghastly” and “pathetic.’ The show lived on
in numerous books, comics and audio
Paul McGann. He played the Doctor in the
1996 television film, a co-production
between BBC and American studios. It was
plays, however, while avid “Doctor Who”
fan Russell T Davies - whose previous
credits included “Queer as Folk, which
features a central character who is himself
a different accent
“As acting jobs go, it’s not the hardest job to do in
every case; it’s just the amount of lines you have to
learn because the Doctor speaks more than anyone,
and in a way that I have never had to do in any other
show, arid that’s challenging,” she said.
Everything is changing in the series this year. New
Doctor; new showrunner; there’s even a new composer
taking over from Murray Gold, who was the musical
director since the series was first reborn. And there are
new people joining the Doctor aboard her Tardis. Three,
in fact Actor, comedian and quiz show host Bradley Walsh
will join relative newcomers Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole, who
both have had stints in teen-soap “Hollyoaks” (although - fan
fact - Cole also landed a small part in “Star Wars: Force
Awakens”).
Whittaker clearly loves having them on board.
“I have made three of the best friends I could ever have
dreamed of,” she said. “I am so excited for the world to meet
their characters. It’s a wonderful dynamic.”
As the weeks count down toward the new series,
Whittaker is as excited as any Whovian to see the show.
She hasn’t seen any of the episodes herself in their
finished form, once the CGI and other special effects
have been added, for example, but she’s already
“really proud” of the show.
“I feel like for Whovians that this is the show
that they love, but it’s also not regurgitating the
stuff that’s gone before, because why keep making
it if you’re not going to use what’s happening day-
to-day around you? It’s got to be current.
“It’s a show for any age,” she said. “It’s scary,
it’s funny, it’s epic, it’s emotional, and it’s all
the things that I want from something. And all
the things that I know that my niece, who is
14, would want from something.”
Doctor Who remains for many a slice of
event television, much discussed, much
dissected and certainly eagerly awaited.
Whittaker laughed. “No pressure then!”
Culture
Page 9
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>
"It's obvious in the
industry there is a huge
difference between the
percentage of male
writers and directors,
and female ones —
and it's certainly not
due to lack of talent.
There are extraordi
nary female writers and
directors out there, and
that should be reflected in
every writer's room."
JODIE WHITTAKER
Jodie Whittaker is
the 13th person
to play the
Doctor on
“Doctor Who” -
and the first
Courtesy o f B ig Issue North / INSP.ngo
a Whovian - spent years campaigning to
get the show back on TV. He was rewarded
for his efforts in 2005 when he was made
executive producer and head writer of the
newly revived series.
Steven Moffat won a BAFTA for the
episode Blink in 2007. The story barely
features the Doctor and instead focuses on
a woman called Sally Sparrow (played by
Carey Mulligan), who investigates the
disappearance of a friend in a creepy
abandoned house. The show introduces
new monsters, the Weeping Angels, stone
statue-like creatures that can move only
when you’re not looking at them, and it’s
widely regarded as one of the best
episodes of the series.
Far left: The Doctor’s
space and time-traveling
machine is called the
TARDIS, an acronym
fo r Time and Relative
Dimension in Space.
The fact that it looks
like a police telephone
box is because the ship
is supposed to disguise
itself and blend in with
its surroundings, but its
“chameleon circuit"got
stuck and it’s never been
able to change since. It's
also because the tight
budgets o f the B B C in
1963 m eant the producers
wanted something cheap
to use fo r the Doctor's
ship.