WhenJodie Whittakerwas cast as The Thirteenth Doctor inDoctor Who, it proved disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, controversial, with many taking umbrage with a female Time Lord taking control of the TARDIS despiteMichelle Gomezalready proving it to be a canonical non-issue. Sadly, her time as the titular Time Lord was hampered by poor writing,dropping ratings, and, eventually, an entire final season hit by a global pandemic.
AlthoughRussell T. DaviesandNcuti Gatwa’s most recent era of the show has proven the problems facing the timey-wimey show are not contained toChris Chibnall’s time as showrunner, that still doesn’t stop many from pointing to Whittaker’s takeover as the moment the series began to rapidly decline. Understandably, although perhaps unfairly, this discourse is likely to leave Whittaker herselflooking back on her time on the showand searching for the tangible reasons behind the downturn. As cited viaRadio Times, Whittaker has now spoken about one aspect of her performance she regrets eight years later, saying in reference to her recent work on aDoctor Whoaudio drama:
“I speak really quickly and I think, on film, because of the edit, you can get away with maybe tripping over something. They’ve got it on another angle. But obviously, when your voice is the entire thing, I realized how many times I mispronounce words, I trip over sounds. I basically pitched the Doctor too quick but I did it in my very first episode, and I’ve regretted it ever since!”
Another Former Time Lord Has Issues With the Series
Whittaker isn’t the only former Time Lord reflecting on the series, although the other is much morescathing in his assessment.Peter Davison, famed for starring as the fifth incarnation of the Time Lord, shares the opinion of many globally who worry that the most recent era of the show has jeopardized its future. “As the special effects got even better, there’s a danger that it becomes just about special effects. They’re terribly worried now about people’s attention spans,” Davison said, adding, “If something isn’t happening every two minutes, they think people are going to turn off, which I don’t believe is true.” After calling the latter episodes of the show “trailer television,” Davison admitted, “there are huge gaps in the narrative,” further adding, “I just find it almost like you’re watching a trailer for aDoctor Whoshow you’d like to watch later.”
Doctor WhoSeason 2 is available to watch in full on Disney+. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for the latest updates on the best of British television.
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