‘Doctor Who’ Season 11 Rumored To Get ‘Familiar’ New Companion Cast To Play Alongside No. 13 Female Time Lord
Doctor Who Season 11 rumors suggest a new companion for the 13th Doctor has been chosen, and fans might already be familiar with the name. The new Time Lord for Doctor Who Season 11 was recently announced as Jodie Whittaker, 35. Casting the first female Doctor for the 13th reincarnation took some loyal fans of the long-running BBC science-fiction TV series by surprise since a name for the new Doctor had been dropped over three months ago. After receiving some backlash from Doctor Who fans for casting a woman as the next Time Lord, former Doctor Who producer Steven Moffat claims fans have embraced the change. Fans of the Doctor Who series, especially fans from 2005 and on, may finally embrace a woman Doctor if the new companion for the number 13 Doctor is whom they think it might be.
Although the Time Lord in Doctor Who has always been cast as a male, Live Science shared a week ago that the Time Lord “can regenerate as a woman.” The time-traveling Doctor doesn’t have a set gender, as demonstrated by “The Master” regenerating as a woman a couple of seasons ago. The Doctor Who rival character has been played by multiple male actors throughout the years but was recently cast as the first woman Master, played by actress Michelle Gomez as Missy — reportedly short for “Mistress.” However, long-time fans and followers of Doctor Who were still left in shock after actress Jodie Whittaker was cast as the 13th Time Lord, following the departure of Peter Capaldi, 59, in December, as reported the Telegraph about a week ago.
Good morning Whovians and good morning to the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker! #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/8ftSlMoca1
— Doctor Who on BBC America (@DoctorWho_BBCA) July 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/TeamWhittaker/status/889242780291264512
Fans thought they already knew who the 13th Doctor would be after rumors had been swirling since March that the next Doctor would be played by Death in Paradise star Kris Marshall, 44, as also previously reported by the Telegraph. According to the report, some Doctor Who fans wanted a “David Tennant type” Doctor for the 13th regeneration and some fans wanted a woman. Radio Times reported five days ago that Marshall was, in fact, leaving Death in Paradise after four seasons, and now rumors are circulating saying “people are convinced” that, while Marshall wasn’t cast as the next Time Lord, he still might be joining the cast of Doctor Who as the next new companion for the first female Time Lord, according to the National Student on Saturday.
IndieWire reported on Sunday that the Doctor’s current assistant Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie, 30, is also leaving Doctor Who along with Peter Capaldi after the upcoming Christmas special, leaving a “clean slate” for Season 11 of Doctor Who. However, BBC has not yet officially announced who the next companion for the first female Doctor will be, but fans overall think the new companion should be a male companion, according to a recent discussion on Quora, mainly because the Doctor usually has an opposite gender companion. Steven Moffat, who’s been with Doctor Who since its revival in 2005, calls casting a woman as the next new Doctor “incredibly progressive,” adding that conservative fans of Doctor Who have “embraced” the change completely, according to Variety on Sunday.
Doctor Who: a new rumour suggests that Kris Marshall could be Jodie Whittaker's companion.https://t.co/pIdTISHHOc pic.twitter.com/qCfR08zN9q
— Den Of Geek UK (@denofgeek) July 20, 2017
Said one Doctor Who viewer in a comment, TV fans usually “don’t like change,” but change is to be expected. The comment went on to add that “this much change” in a long-running and popular TV series such as Doctor Who is “going to cause some to go a bit crazy.” Despite Moffat’s claim that backlash against a woman cast as the new Doctor is fake news, continued discussion on the Entertainment Weekly Facebook page seems to suggest otherwise, but Doctor Who fans may be more motivated to watch Season 11 if the “longtime frontrunner” thought to play the next Doctor, Kris Marshall, is cast as the Time Lord’s new companion.
According to Movie Pilot via the Sun, Marshall “is the main contender to succeed” the current companion played by Pearl Mackie, adding that “he may join up with Matt Lucas,” the 43-year-old actor “who plays the other assistant Nardole.”
[Featured Image by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images]
