Thirteenth Doctor
The Thirteenth Doctor | |
---|---|
Doctor Who character | |
First regular appearance | "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" (2018) |
Last regular appearance | "The Power of the Doctor" (2022) |
Introduced by | Chris Chibnall |
Portrayed by | Jodie Whittaker |
Preceded by | Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor) |
Succeeded by | David Tennant (Fourteenth Doctor) |
Information | |
Tenure | 7 October 2018 – 23 October 2022 |
No of series | 3 |
Appearances | 24 stories (31 episodes) |
Companions |
|
Chronology |
The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, in three series as well as five specials.
Within the series's narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old,
This incarnation's first companions were the trio of
Casting
In January 2016,
Casting a woman
The concept of a female Doctor was first mentioned in 1981, when
The concept of
The most notable Time Lord to have appeared in both male and female forms prior to Whittaker's casting is the Doctor's nemesis,
Two years prior to the announcement of Whittaker's casting, fans and scholars discussed the possibility of a female Doctor and analysed the benefits of such a regeneration.[21]
Casting Whittaker
When referring to whether the new Doctor would be a woman, incoming Doctor Who showrunner
In an interview with Tenth Doctor actor and Broadchurch co-star David Tennant, Whittaker said she was never a fan of Doctor Who and had lost interest in watching it when she got the role, saying: "I watched a bit during my audition process but quickly decided it's not for me. [Chibnall] said to me, 'you're not playing the Doctor, you're playing the truth of the scene and the Doctor will come out of that'... so, that's what I did."[26]
In November 2018, BBC confirmed that the
Whittaker and Chibnall stated they would exit the show following the thirteenth series and
Characterisation
Interviewed by Radio Times, Chibnall described the Thirteenth Doctor as "absolutely the Doctor, but there's a new calibration, a new mixture of Doctorishness. The Thirteenth Doctor is incredibly lively, warm, funny, energetic, inclusive – she's the greatest friend you could wish to have as your guide around the universe." In the same article, Whittaker also added that her Doctor "speak[s] at a hundred miles an hour," while actress Mandip Gill who plays companion Yaz Khan, commented that Whittaker's Doctor "has a similar energy to Matt Smith's Doctor... Very high energy. Jodie has that about her Doctor."[32]
Costume
In the clip in which the casting of Whittaker was announced, she wears a grey overcoat over a black hoodie.[33] The first images of Whittaker's official costume as the Doctor were released to the media on 9 November 2017.[34]
The Thirteenth Doctor's costume features blue high-waisted
Whittaker stated that she worked with the show's costume designer Ray Holman (who had also worked before with Whittaker on Broadchurch) to come up with her outfit, inspired by a photograph that she had found online. The photograph had been published in a 1988 issue of Sassy showing a number of female models in men's clothing, with the specific photo of a woman in trousers, braces and a T-shirt, walking with a purpose. Whittaker said she "just love[d] the androgyny of it, without it being masculine", and that "felt intriguing and kind of open to interpretation and I really love that".[38][39] Additional elements drew out from the photograph. Whittaker wanted a coat that flowed with her actions and gave her pockets but otherwise did not have any fasteners, and she wanted some colour within the outfit but without going too "cartoonish".[38] Holman added violet to the inside of the coat's sleeves, a reference to the violet-and-green colours of the Suffragettes.[40]
Appearances
Television
The Thirteenth Doctor makes her debut in the final scene of 2017 Christmas special "
In "Spyfall" (2020), the Doctor faces off against the regenerated Master (Sacha Dhawan), who reveals that he has destroyed their home planet of Gallifrey in revenge for the Time Lords having lied to them about their species' origins, concerning a story of the "Timeless Child". In "Fugitive of the Judoon", the Doctor learns her former companion Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) has sent her a warning – "Do not give the Lone Cyberman what it wants" – just as she was encountering a past incarnation of herself (played by Jo Martin), that she has no recollection of being. The Doctor ignores Jack's warning in "The Haunting of Villa Diodati", when the Doctor gives a partially-converted Cyberman (Patrick O'Kane) from the future a compendium containing all knowledge of the fallen Cyber-Empire, in order to save the life of Percy Shelley (Lewis Rainer) and protect human history. The Doctor and her friends pursue the Lone Cyberman to the future and the aftermath of the Cyber-Wars in "Ascension of the Cybermen", where he has set in motion a plan to rebuild the Cyber-Empire and wipe out all life in the universe. As the last fragments of humanity face destruction at the hands of the Cybermen, the Doctor is pulled through a portal to Gallifrey by the Master in "The Timeless Children", where she learns of a radical cover-up of her origins: she is in fact the Timeless Child, an orphan from an unknown world whose unique power to regenerate was studied and replicated by her adopted mother, whose people used it to build the Time Lord empire. The Time Lords then forced her to work for them as an agent of the secretive "Division" for many years before erasing her memories. The Doctor defeats the Master's plan to conquer the universe with a new race of "CyberMaster" Cybermen-Time Lord hybrids, but is then arrested by the Judoon. She is broken out of prison by Jack Harkness in the New Year's Day special "Revolution of the Daleks" (2021), and with his help the TARDIS crew prevent an attempted takeover of Earth by clones of the Dalek discovered in Sheffield. Following this adventure, Jack, Ryan, and Graham choose to stay behind on Earth, leaving Yaz as the Doctor's sole travelling companion.
In
Literature
The first book to feature the Thirteenth Doctor was the short story collection Doctor Who: Twelve Angels Weeping by Dave Rudden, released in October 2018.[41][42] New Series Adventures released three novels starring the Thirteenth Doctor, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yaz Khan in October/November 2018: The Good Doctor, Molten Heart, and Combat Magicks.[43] A novel targeted at younger readers, The Secret in Vault 13, was published that November by BBC Children's Books.[44] The Thirteenth Doctor cameos in Tom Baker's and James Goss' 2019 Doctor Who novel Scratchman. At Childhood's End, published in February 2020 is written by Sophie Aldred, who previously played the Seventh Doctor's companion Ace, and features an adult Ace reuniting with the Thirteenth Doctor to investigate a threat that links to the circumstances that prompted Ace to leave the Seventh Doctor, the reunion with the Thirteenth Doctor encouraging Ace to reconsider her relationship with the Doctor.
Video games
Doctor Who: The Runaway is a VR game released for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in 2019,[45] and via Steam in 2020.[46]
Reception
Announcement
Fan reaction to Whittaker's casting was largely positive, although "a sizeable minority protested that the Doctor shouldn't be played by a woman."
Response from Doctor Who actors
The world we live in has a history of male domination, of stereotyping, of resistance to change, of playing it safe. Doctor Who has never been about that. The Doctor in all his incarnations has always been a passionate defender of justice, equality, fairness and resisted those who seek to dominate or destroy.
—Colin Baker, 17 July 2017[53]
Reaction among former Doctor Who actors was largely positive. Colin Baker, who portrayed the Sixth Doctor, quoting his own character in his introductory stories The Caves of Androzani and The Twin Dilemma, tweeted: "Change my dears and not a moment too soon — she IS the Doctor whether you like it or not!"[48] In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Baker wrote that he had "never been able to think of any logical reason" why the Doctor could not be a woman, and described himself as "shocked" that some fans of the show were vowing not to watch again due to Whittaker's casting.[53]
Conversely, Peter Davison, who portrayed the Fifth Doctor, stated that the casting would mean the "loss of a role model for boys". Nevertheless, he noted that Whittaker is a "terrific actress" and would do "a wonderful job" in the role.[54] Baker and Davison argued over the casting at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con.[55] Tom Baker, who portrayed the Fourth Doctor, reacted positively to the news. However, he warned that if the audience were to lose interest, Whittaker should be replaced: "I think it might be quite nice to have a woman. But you [BBC] just test it. If the audience don't like it then just kill her off. ... Nobody has ever failed by the way, nobody has, it's just how it is."[56] Freema Agyeman, who played Martha Jones between 2007 and 2010, said she was "astounded" by the negative reception from some fans, noting that the show's history of change was key to its strength and longevity.[55] Other former cast members Christopher Eccleston,[57] Sylvester McCoy, Katy Manning,[56] David Tennant, Billie Piper, Karen Gillan and John Barrowman reacted positively to the news.[58]
Critical reception
Whittaker received positive reviews for her portrayal in the eleventh series. Ed Power of The Independent applauded her introduction in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", commenting "Whittaker is a force of breezy nature – rambunctious, quirky but with a reassuring familiar aura of Gallifreyan uncanniness." Adding upon this he stated "still, she's soon in her stride with a turn that swerves satisfyingly between whimsical and tom-boyish."[59] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy called her debut performance "terrific" and "fizzling with energy".[60] Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph commented "Whittaker is a breath of fresh air: a talented, emotionally engaged actress who brings warmth and humanity to a show that was largely in danger of disappearing up its own black hole. From the outset, she proves to be a charismatic presence, righting alien wrongs in the gleaming metropolis of Sheffield (of all places.) Likeable, funny, as brave as a lion, Whittaker's Doctor has ushered in a new era for this 55-year-old show, with a remarkable level of assurance."[61] After watching the first five episodes of the eleventh series, Radio Times Flora Carr commented: "She's channelled the best elements of recent Doctors (Matt Smith's whimsy, David Tennant's frenetic energy, Peter Capaldi's wry humour...), but above all, she's made the role her own." Mark Braxton also said, "Jodie's Doctor is a whirlwind of likeability and energy, a tour de force that has relaunched the show with panache."[62] BBC Drama controller Piers Wenger told Radio Times his opinion of Whittaker's performance, stating it was "intensely moral, a little distracted and bursting with energy, she's both the Doctor we know and a new version of the Time Lord. Gone is the daffiness and idiosyncrasy of her predecessors in favour of a Doctor with energy, spark and relatability."[63]
Later reception of Whittaker's portrayal saw some criticism. Merryana Salem of Junkee panned her performance as "constantly fidgety, rambling and flitting about like a primary school teacher with too much caffeine on board in what constantly felt like a weak impersonation of the character".[26] Both Bleeding Cool's Adi Tantimedh and The Escapist's Darren Mooney criticised the Thirteen Doctor for doing little to combat social and political injustices as if "afraid of challenging the status quo".[64][65] Other aspects of Whittaker's tenure have been considered divisive, with praise for the series' improved production values, but criticism for the scripts, characterisation, and the additions to previously established lore concerning the Doctor's origins in the episode "The Timeless Children".[66][65][67][68]
For the
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External links
- "Jodie Whittaker's First Interview after her Announcement as the 13th Doctor"
- "The Thirteenth Doctor - Official Doctor Who website"
- Thirteenth Doctor on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki