The next season of Doctor Who will mark Jodie Whittaker’s last go-round as the Gallifreyan Time Lord, but one of her longtime companions might not be exiting the TARDIS alongside her. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, co-star Mandip Gill teased what viewers can expect from Whittaker’s final episodes, and she hinted that her character might have a role to play in future seasons of the show.
Gill’s Yasmine “Yaz” Khan has been a fixture of Doctor Who since season 11, where she was introduced alongside Whittaker’s incoming Thirteenth Doctor. But it sounds like she might live long enough to see a new actor wield the character’s sonic screwdriver.
“Well, one, I can’t confirm it but, two, there’s just no rules to this,” said Gill. “Companions do stay on thereafter. We still haven’t finished filming these episodes, it could go any which way. The audience are really good at going, oh, it’s a whole new cast and new companions and they’re onboard with that. And they’re also amazing at going, oh yeah, that’s a companion from the last Doctor, that also makes sense. So who knows? But just know that I’ve had the most amazing time.”
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Although a new Doctor typically heralds the arrival of new companions, there have been some holdovers in the past. For instance, Jenna Coleman (who was introduced during Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor) continued to play Clara Oswald after Peter Capaldi took over the role. Regardless, Gill seems focused on the present for now, and she’s excited for fans to see what they cooked up for the series this year.
“It’s bigger than it has been,” added Gill. “Prosthetics are next level. We couldn’t go anywhere because of COVID, so we’ve had the most brilliant set designs made. Guest actors, I’ve had the time of my life, because they’ve actually been in more than one episode this year. There’s lots of through lines with stories which meant that characters could stay. […] So for me as an actor it’s been a really exciting year, restrictions aside.”
Doctor Who returns this Sunday, October 13 on BBC America.
Are you hoping that Gill stays with the series after Whittaker leaves? Let us know in the comment section below!
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