Although the final episode aired two years ago, Jodie Whittaker still harbors strong feelings about the ending of her Doctor Who season, where she played the Thirteenth Doctor. Whittaker, along with her costar Mandip Gill, reflect on their last scenes together, with the former stating she feels “protective” over them.
RadioTimes conversed with both Gill and Whittaker about their sentiments towards the episode of “The Power of the Doctor.” The preceding episode included a scene where Gill’s character, Yasmin Khan, confesses her feelings for the Doctor. However, they did not engage in any romance. Gill states, “I don’t think of it as another version. That is the version. That’s where we left it. That’s how it happened.” Whittaker chimes in to agree: “I’m quite protective over it. It was a really beautiful thing, particularly the scenes in the TARDIS – they were really wonderful to shoot, because that was our last day.” While Doctor Who has explored many romantic and queer plotlines, this is the first time the Doctor has been a woman, making television history.
Jodie Whittaker Comments on the Absence of an On-Screen Kiss
The pair continued to contemplate their time shooting together, commenting on the lack of an on-screen kiss. Whittaker says, “I think those beats, even though, story-wise, they don’t run all together, for us, because that’s how we shot it, it felt like a beautiful progression within the dynamic and the relationship that they had.” Enthusiastic fans of the show enjoyed the duo’s dynamic, due to the slow-burn style romance, along with their intense chemistry. It’s clear that Gill and Whittaker have a great rapport, as Gill jokes: “I’m not entirely sad [that there wasn’t a kiss] because Jodie doesn’t moisturize her lips!”
“I think those beats, even though, story-wise, they don’t run all together, for us, because that’s how we shot it, it felt like a beautiful progression within the dynamic and the relationship that they had.”
In anticipation of their return to the Doctor Who franchise for an audio series called the Thirteenth Doctor Adventures, both Whittaker and Gill described it as, “It’s kind of isolated stories – rather than it being about the Doctor and Yaz’s relationship, it’s the adventure of the episode…But we haven’t seen anything beyond this…That gives us time to explore.” Both actors also hinted the future of the two characters remained open, but wanted to “concentrate on the adventure.”
Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Adventures is available for preorder on the Big Finish website.