THE BIG PICTURE
- Despite mixed fan reactions to the Thirteenth Doctor’s era’s end, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill are defending how the story concluded.
- Whittaker and Gill will return to the Doctor Who universe in audio form through Big Finish Productions, with 12 episodes set to come out in July next year.
- The core dynamic between the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz will remain in the audio dramas, focusing on isolated adventures and banter as seen in their natural rhythm.
The end of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era in Doctor Who came with mixed fan reaction, whether it was how the ultimate face off with the Master (Sacha Dhawan) or how each companion said their goodbyes, or what ultimately led to Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor regenerating (in a final plot twist) into David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor. The fan reaction included disappointment at what seemed to be the end of the story for the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan aka Yaz (Mandip Gill). Fans had speculated about a romance between Yasmin and the Doctor (ship name: Thasmin), but it never materialized, even after a confession from Yaz.
Despite that disappointment, both Whittaker and Gill are defending how the story ended. In an interview with RadioTimes, Whittaker says she’s “quite protective of it.” She adds, “it was a really beautiful thing, particularly the scenes in the TARDIS – they were really wonderful to shoot, because that was our last day.” In the same interview, Gill echoes Whittaker, but in a more amusing way, saying “I’m not entirely sad [that there wasn’t a kiss] because Jodie doesn’t moisturise her lips!”
Big Finish Brings Back Fan Favorites in Audio Dramas
Just in the last week, it was announced Whittaker and Gill would return to the Doctor Who universe, this time in audio format. Through Big Finish Productions, fans will get to hear more adventures from the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan in The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures. The 12, hour-long episodes will come out in July of next year. The plots of the episodes of not been revealed but Whittaker and Gill offer some insight into what it was like to reunite for the run of audio dramas.
“It’s kind of isolated stories – rather than it being about the Doctor and Yaz’s relationship, it’s the adventure of the episode,” Whittaker explains. “It’s these guys on their travels, what they come across, and their natural banter and rhythm between each other, but then also the protectiveness that they both have for each other.” So it seems regardless of what adventures the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan, the core of their dynamic will remain.
The Big Finish audio dramas have often taken on the role of filling in the gaps of a character’s story, sitting in a liminal space in canon (it’s canon if you want it to be, okay? Okay.) For example, River Song (Alex Kingston) has had an extensive addition to her story in Big Finish audio form through The Diary of River Song series. Now later this year, Big Finish has also revealed that Kingston will reprise her role as River Song in another audio drama series that is set after her canonical death in ‘Forest of the Dead’ that will be out in the coming months.
As for Whittaker and Gill, at the time of their interview with RadioTimes, they were about halfway through recording the new adventures with Yaz and the Doctor.
If you’re missing Thasmin and want to watch some of your favorite moments, Doctor Who (2005) is available to stream on Max.
