Doctor Who’s Mandip Gill on growing tension between Yaz and the Doctor
The Flux star opens up on the new distance between her and Jodie Whittaker’s characters.
There have been a few changes in the TARDIS for Doctor Who’s new series, with companions Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole waving goodbye and newcomer John Bishop joining the gang as plasterer, soup-lover and wok-wielder extraordinaire Dan Lewis.
But another change has arrived in the relationship between current Doctor Jodie Whittaker and longstanding companion Yaz (Mandip Gill), which has become slightly more combative in series 13. Over the course of the first three episodes, as the Doctor worries about her past and what it has to do with the Flux, she’s regularly told Yaz to butt out of her business, clearly growing frustrated with her friend’s questions.
And as for how Yaz feels about the new tension? Well, there’s no better way to find out than to go straight to the source – Mandip Gill herself.
“The Doctor as we know, she is going through something and she doesn't talk about it,” Gill told RadioTimes.com when asked about the frostiness between the Doctor and Yaz. “She always finds an excuse not to tell us.”
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“So I think Yaz having spent a lot of time with the Doctor, is a bit like, 'Oh, come on, you really don't tell us anything.' Our tension is coming from that. 'You keep making us do things, keep making us chase you around, but you're never explaining what's wrong with you. Where have you come from?’”
Gill also speculated that Yaz might resent the Doctor holding back information, especially after sharing some of her own life story in their time together.
“Yaz doesn't really know that much about the Doctor,” she told us. “And yet, she's gone on this massive journey with her.
“Yaz has opened up about what it was like in Sheffield, and what she went through at school. So I think she thinks it's only fair that the Doctor does that.
“From the Doctor’s perspective, she's obviously not in a position to talk about it. But naturally, it's come to a little bit of a head.”
Still, Gill says fans of the time-travelling duo shouldn’t be too worried about their increasingly frosty relationship, as it’s not headed to any massive fall-out in the upcoming episodes.
“I don't think it's anything that people need to worry about,” she told us. “I think it is just what would happen naturally in a relationship with two people that have been going round space together, having all these adventures.
“You know, Yaz does idolise the Doctor, she does think that's the best thing that's ever happened to her. She's opened Yaz up to so many things – but at the same time, you do naturally get annoyed with people.”
In other words, it sounds like Yaz and the Doctor will finally hash things out and bury the (sonic) hatchet before the Flux story ends. Fingers crossed those crazy kids can work it all out.
Doctor Who airs on BBC One on Sundays. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
