We know that Jodie Whittaker is stepping away from Doctor Who next year, after a run of specials with showrunner Chris Chibnall. In a new interview, she’s revealed the advice David Tennant, another former Doctor, gave her about taking on the sci-fi series.
Speaking to Radio Times, Whittaker discusses how her three seasons so far have gone in the blink of an eye, something Tennant warned her about. “Weirdly, it’s like for me, it’s as if it’s been three years, I’ve done three seasons, but it’s been much longer than that,” she says. “And actually, it has gone [quickly]. And I remember this was one thing that I really remember David [Tennant] saying to me before, right? Like before I started shooting. He said ‘This will go so quickly. It will feel like it goes in a whirlwind.’ And it has!”
Truly, it is quite hard to believe that we’re back to anticipating who the next Doctor might be. Before we get there, though, we have Whittaker’s swansong to the Timelord on the TV series, which started this Halloween with Doctor Who: Flux. Whittaker mentions the happy memories she’ll have, especially working with Mandip Gill, her one consistent companion.
“I think the one thing that I will be eternally grateful for, and I think I can speak for Mandip [Gill] in this way, is that we have always been aware of how ace it is,” Whittaker says. “As much as you can be in the chaos and it is you know, it’s a mad whirlwind. Any film set is but this is particularly mad! It’s been yeah, it is a really joyous thing. And so it’s gone quick, but it’s like so rich, full of wonderful experiences.”
Doctor Who: Flux runs for six-episodes, then we’ll have a trilogy of specials in 2022 that’ll be Whittaker’s transition out of the role for whomever is taking over in her stead. Chibnall is stepping down too, with Russell T Davies, who spearheaded Doctor Who’s return back in 2005, is stepping back in to showrun after.
But here in the present, you can catch Doctor Who: Flux weekly on Sundays on BBC One, giving you the best chance you’ll have to say thank Whittaker for the memories.