Rob Price
The BBC announced on Sunday May 8th that Ncuti Gatwa of Netflix’s Sex Education will take over the role of The Doctor in Doctor Who when Jodi Whittaker steps down. Jodi was the first female to hold the lead in the series and Gatwa becomes the first person of color to play the part. He states in a BBC press release, “There aren’t quite the words to describe how I’m feeling. A mix of deeply honoured, beyond excited and of course a little bit scared”.
The final send off for Jodi Whittaker’s take on the Time Lord will include classic Doctor Who companions, Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred). Ace was the last companion to travel with the Doctor played by Sylvester McCoy, before the series was initially cancelled. The Time Lord will be fighting three of her iconic villains, The Master, The Cybermen and the Daleks.
On a personal note: Tegan was my favorite companion, but I was also a fan of Ace, and I have very much enjoyed Jodi’s performance in the role. As a huge fan of the classic series I felt her character harkened back to those doctors. I am very excited to see the characters I loved as a kid once again on screen, now if they could only get Romana (Lalla Ward) and Leela (Louise Jameson) to come back as well.
