The Thirteenth Doctor’s era of Doctor Who began this month with “The Woman Who Fell To Earth,” which kicked off season 11 in style and at long last allowed Jodie Whittaker’s incarnation of the Time Lord to make her proper debut. She’s now the Doctor in the eyes of fans everywhere and it seems that almost everyone is very pleased with what they’ve seen of her so far.
Not only were the reactions over social media superb, but reviewers have been singing the actresses’ praises as well, with the current run now Certified Fresh over on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, the Time Lord’s latest outing has received the special honor and now, one of the show’s former stars has weighed in with his thoughts on Whittaker’s big debut.
John Barrowman, most well known for playing Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who, spoke with Radio Times recently and said that he loved the premiere but did have one issue with it.
“I’ll tell you one thing, ONE thing that bothered me. It was the worldwide simulcast, and it started, and I was hooked. I thought the story was great. I loved the monster with the teeth – that’s how he collects all the people that he kills or destroys. And by the time it was over I loved it, I thought the introduction to the characters were awesome, I thought Jodie did a phenomenal job.”
“But then at the end of it I thought – where’s the theme music?!?!? In the States, I don’t know if it was the same in the UK but we didn’t get the theme music,” he said. “And that bugged me! Because you know when there’s a new Doctor, there’s going to be a new theme, that’s gonna be updated and revamped.”
“I thought they would do the first five minutes of the tease going into the programme, and then it would go cheeeooooooo duga da dun, duga da dun, duga da dun, and I was getting ready to dance around the room,” he added, explaining that he’d set up his front room specially so that he could film his reaction. “But it never happened!”
While we can certainly sympathize with what the actor’s saying here, it’s still a relatively minor gripe with what was otherwise a fantastic episode. And with Jodie Whittaker saying she’s got plans to be the Doctor for a long while yet, new showrunner Chris Chibnall and the BBC will be hoping that things remain on the track that they’re on now.
Clearly, though, the new era of Doctor Who is doing something right. Despite all the controversy that Whittaker’s casting initially sparked, it’s obvious that the vast majority of fans – both hardcore and casual – are fully on board with it now and are thoroughly enjoying the new Doctor’s adventures through time and space.
