There’ve been a broad range of reactions to the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor, the first woman to play the part in Doctor Who‘s half-century on TV. While there are definitely a number of extreme opinions floating around, Steven Moffat has claimed that most fans love the decision. Even if that’s not entirely true, it would seem that many of the stars of the show are on board with having a female Doctor.
After all, ever since the announcement that Whittaker would be portraying the character, a number of people involved with the sci-fi series, both past and present, have congratulated the actress – including Peter Capaldi, Colin Baker, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, among others. Now, you can add one more to the list, as David Bradley has spoken up as well, showering nothing but praise on Whittaker in the process.
Who fans will know Bradley for portraying William Hartnell, “who played the First Doctor and originated the part of the Doctor, in the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time.” However, he also showed up in season 7’s “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” and, perhaps most importantly, will be appearing as the First Doctor again in the upcoming Christmas special, “Twice Upon A Time.”
Unfortunately, Bradley won’t get to share any scenes with Whittaker in the episode, but he had nothing but good things to say about her when asked for his thoughts on the new Doctor.
“As soon as I heard she was doing it I was really very surprised. But happily surprised, because I know that she’s got this great depth as an actress, anyone who saw Broadchurch saw the range that she had. And not only that, just hanging out with her you realise what fun she is, and she’s always up for a laugh. So she’s got everything needed for playing the part. I think she’ll be absolutely brilliant. So I was very excited when I saw she was doing it.”
Continuing on, the actor noted that casting a female in the role seemed like a natural progression.
“To me it seemed like a natural progression. I’m glad they’ve chosen Jodie, because not only is she a brilliant actress with all sorts of emotional resources at her command, but also because she’s great fun offscreen and on. She’s got a wicked sense of humour, and I think it’s a perfect combo to play the Doctor. Because it requires someone with great range, which she’s got.”
It’s not like we expected Bradley to ever say anything bad about the incoming Doctor, of course, but his comments are still nice to hear and only have us even more excited to see Jodie in action. Thankfully, we’ll get the chance to do just that quite soon, as December will bring about the aforementioned Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Twice Upon a Time,” which will simultaneously usher in Whittaker as the titular hero and bid farewell to Peter Capaldi, who’s set to hang up his hat for good this festive season.
Not only that, but if recent rumors are to be believed, we may be seeing Jenna Coleman back on the show as well, as she’s said to be returning to help see Capaldi off. That remains unconfirmed, of course, but all will be revealed soon enough.