Three weeks from today, the world will be enjoying Christmas and, more importantly, getting its first look at Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. As the first woman to land the leading role in Doctor Who, much was made of her casting back in July as for many fans, the change had been a long time coming.
In a new interview with the Radio Times, outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat took the time to explain why – though he completely supports the idea – he never cast a woman during his tenure. First of all, he said that “it wouldn’t have worked” if he had replaced David Tennant with an actress back in 2010, as it was “too early.”
Moffat then touched on how there was a possibility of the Twelfth Doctor being a woman, before he got excited over casting Peter Capaldi.
“We could have replaced Matt Smith with a woman, given that his Doctor was more sexless and less of a lad, but then I got obsessed with seeing Peter in the Tardis.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Moffat also revealed that he would have worried about turning away a certain portion of the viewership if he had cast a female Doctor.
“This isn’t a show exclusively for progressive liberals; this is also for people who voted Brexit. That’s not me politically at all – but we have to keep everyone on board.”
Now, however, the writer/director totally supports his successor Chris Chibnall’s choice to hire Whittaker for the part. A key factor this time around, according to Moffat, is that “more and more of the audience” were calling a gender switch, meaning the fear of losing viewers is a much less worrisome prospect.
“All credit to him. It’s going to work, I know it is. More and more of the audience were asking for it. It’s is absolutely the right choice. Now is the time.”
Finally, the Doctor Who writer announced that he recently met Jodie Whittaker for the first time, while also giving us a tiny hint as to what sort of character her Doctor will be. She’s “a fireball of mischief and irreverence. I think she’ll be brilliant as the Doctor,” he said.
Color us excited to catch her in action for the first time this Christmas, when the upcoming special, “Twice Upon a Time,” premieres!
