Jodie Whittaker performed the Doctor Who theme with an unusual instrument
And revealed her very NSFW town nickname…
Jodie Whittaker was a guest on the Graham Norton Show last night, and as is often the case with Doctor Who stars she made a great impression.
And one of the definite highlights was when Whittaker managed to display an impressive rendition of Doctor Who’s iconic theme on the theremin, playing the central melody of the famous tune after fellow guest Lady Gaga had tried it before her.
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Considering her complete inexperience using the electronic instrument (which makes noise via two antennas that sense the relative distance of the performer’s hands) we’d say Whittaker does a pretty great job, worthy of any Time Lord.
(And no, despite the video title it's not Lady Gaga performing it - she just tries out the instrument first).
However, the researchers at the Graham Norton show did get one thing wrong when it came to planning this segment – because as composer Blair Mowat (who has worked before on the series and it’s spin-off Class) pointed out, the theremin wasn’t ACTUALLY used to create the original theme at all. Whoops...
Still, it was worth a little confusion to see Whittaker in action – and it wasn’t only musically that she impressed, sharing a slightly NSFW detail about her home town of Skelmanthorpe, and specifically the nickname its residents are given, which confused and delighted fellow guests Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
Clearly, Whittaker is the master (or should that be the Doctor?) of making an interesting first impression.
Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on Sunday 7th October at 6.45pm
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.