The Written Podcast: When the Doctor Became the Doctor – Jodie Whittaker’s Moment: Spyfall: Part 2

If there’s one thing that remains consistent with Doctor Who is, it’s constantly changing. Starting when William Hartnell was too ill to continue, so they introduced the idea of regeneration into the show, and from then on, the show never remained the same. From the moment William turned into Patrick, so many doors were opened. Over the years, the show has since gone through numerous changes, from actor to actor, head writer to head writer, continuity to different continuity, Doctor Who’s longevity is purely down to how often it renews itself.

When Doctor Who returned in 2005, the show had to go have a major overhaul. Russell T. Davis introduced the concept of the Time War, and the idea that the Doctor is now the last of his kind. This allowed for more doors to open, and that concept was continued forward and explained further when Stephen Moffatt took over. The 50^th anniversary’s storyline was entirely about the Time War and one of the next biggest changes in the show’s history – a hidden incarnation. Played by John Hurt, introduced at the end of The Name of the Doctor, fans across the world were in awe at the surprise, and took to the internet to talk about it for months on end until the 50^th came along. He was well received – it was handled well, making the idea of a hidden incarnation a natural part of the Doctor’s life.

The next biggest change in the show was one that would make history. During classic Doctor Who, when it was time for Tom Baker to hang up his scarf, the idea of a female Doctor started to grow, and it never went away. Over the years, as society changed, the show needed to change along with it. The concept of regeneration implies and has been explored via throwaway lines of dialogue or shown on screen, a Time Lord can change gender. This was also shown when the Missy was revealed to be the Master’s new incarnation. When Peter Capaldi was ready to leave, the idea of a female Doctor was stronger than ever, and Jodie Whitaker was cast, making her the first ever actress to play the Doctor.

Stephen Moffatt had stepped away, allowing Chris Chibnall to pick up the pen, Jodie Whitaker had stepped into the Doctor’s shoes, the show has gone through another major change, and fans were torn as to whether they happy about the idea, but both sides of the argument admitted they need to see the first episode before making any actual judgements.

The Woman Who Fell to Earth was Jodie’s first ever episode, and it was a strong one, with a decent story and incredible performance from Jodie. Her first ever appearance was falling through a train carriage all high on regeneration energy. Forgetting the word tongue, making casual passing references to having been a white-haired Scotsman, immediately taking control of the situation at hand without really knowing what’s going on, and struggling with her new body, she was the Doctor.

But, you might be wondering why, if I’ve just labelled The Woman Who Fell to Earth as Jodie’s moment of becoming the Doctor, is this article got the episode, Spyfall Part 2 instead. That’s because of Chris’s involvement. You see, he wanted to essentially induce a soft reboot of the show to ease fans into the idea of Jodie being the Doctor and allow new fans to enjoy the show without getting entangled up in all the continuity. Jodie blew it out of the water in her first few moments playing the character, but Chris ultimately wanted to have as little information about the character as possible. Existing fans knew who the Doctor was, new fans can enjoy learning who the Doctor is, and being high on regeneration energy isn’t really who the Doctor is, but instead just an interlude between her previous personality and her new one.

Chris’ attempt at this idea didn’t really go down well. There wasn’t a particular moment in the series that sold me. The Doctor was just the Doctor, there wasn’t a standout moment for Jodie. Until Spyfall Part 2 came along. Series 12 essentially did the exact opposite of what series 11 did and explore so much of the Doctor’s past and the show’s continuity, by bringing back the Master. Right at the end of the episode, when Graham, Ryan, and Yaz were pushing for the Doctor to tell them more about her, she obliged and said that her name is the Doctor, she’s from Gallifrey and she’s a Time Lord. We all knew that, but Jodie never really told us that in the previous series whether it be by words or actions.

Her moment came, when she truly became the Doctor, is when she basically just told her companions and subsequently us, the audience, the basics: her name, where she’s from, and her species. Plain and simple, and cemented her as part of the show’s history. In fact, it was that moment which inspired me to write this series of articles.

Series 12 would then go on to shattering what we knew of the Doctor’s life, creating the biggest canyon between people who like and hate it the show has ever had the pleasure in being a part of.

Doctor Who has had so many changes, it’ll be hard to list them all from the top of your head. You’ll have to do research to make sure you’ve got every single change. The big changes such as a secret incarnation, the destruction of Gallifrey, and the Doctor becoming a woman, and the biggest change when it was revealed the Doctor was the one who gave the Gallifreians the ability to regenerate after being discovered standing by a portal leading to another dimension – essentially putting the mystery back into the title of the show after Stephen Moffatt played heavily on revealing as much of the Doctor’s background as possible; it’s all part of the show’s DNA, and it will forever be a part of the show’s DNA.

The day Doctor Who doesn’t change will be the day it ends.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)