Jodie Whittaker would "love" to bring back Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler to Doctor Who
The new Doctor also wants to team up with River Song in the BBC series – but understands why showrunner Chris Chibnall wants to introduces new characters and monsters
As Chris Chibnall has outlined to Doctor Who fans (several times), there won’t be old monsters returning in series 11, with the sci-fi show “moving forward” into a new era.
However, that hasn’t stopped the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker, thinking about past characters. In particular, Rose Tyler.
Speaking to Vulture, Whittaker said she’d “love to work” with Billie Piper – who played the companion to David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston when the show first returned.
“I love what she brought to that role — it was engaging and strong and vulnerable and dynamic. I’d like to meet Rose,” she said.
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And that’s not all. Whittaker also said she’d love for her Doctor to team up with River Song, a former companion and daughter of Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), played by Alex Kingston.
“There’s load of brilliant creatures and monsters, too,” added Whittaker. “Can you imagine me meeting my first Dalek?”
She also commented on Chibnall’s decision to stay away from old foes this series. “It’s certainly not denying any of the worlds or monsters, but for him, it was really about going in a new direction and finding places in history we could go to,” Whittaker said.
She also discussed future episodes in the series, saying the Doctor’s new gender would become more prevalent. “There are times when we potentially go into history where gender is referenced, sometimes through others' characters, too.
“But it’s irrelevant with the Doctor. The Doctor is the Doctor. The character isn’t lost because it’s in a female form. Maybe sometimes other people’s reactions are different because it’s a woman and not a man, but that’s as far as it goes.”
Doctor Who continues on BBC1 on Sunday 14th October at 6.55pm
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Authors
Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.