Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker says it's "emotional" being referenced in show
"To be part of the canon and reference points, it's really magical."
Jodie Whittaker has said it's "emotional" to see her era of the show being referenced in new episodes of Doctor Who.
Showrunner Russell T Davies has made various references to previous seasons of the show, including the Timeless Child arc and the Flux from Chris Chibnall and Whittaker's three seasons.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party, Whittaker said: "It's amazing. It's so emotional as well because, for us, it was such a present thing. We were in it and we were living it in real time, and now to be part of the canon and reference points, it's really magical."
Davies, who has returned to Doctor Who after rebooting it in 2005, previously said he won't "unwrite" Chibnall.
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He told SFX: "Let’s stare that question right in the eye. I’m not going to unwrite my good friend Chris Chibnall’s work on The Timeless Children. I’m not going to deny what he wrote. I’m going with it. It’s absolutely fine."
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Instead, there have been various references to Chibnall's era, including talk of the Flux and mentions of the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) being adopted - a nod to the Timeless Child arc.
Chibnall previously told RadioTimes.com: "It's really beautiful when things like that happen, definitely. It was one of the things we talked about, Steven [Moffat], Russell and I, when we met up, and it was a thing Steven was saying, you don't feel like the work you've done on the show is Doctor Who, because that's the work you've done.
"So he's like, all of the episodes he's written, all the episodes he’s showrun, it’s like everything else is Doctor Who and then his bit is just the thing he did, and it doesn't feel legitimately part of Doctor Who, and it's really weird.
"So when you do get things that crop up, that kind of reference - and actually, when I would drop in references to Steven’s stories, or something Russell had done, I would get texts from them, Steven would go, 'I was mentioned in Doctor Who! Something I thought of was mentioned in Doctor Who!' It's great. You know, 'I exist!' It's really true.
"Russell as well, [I] would get messages going, 'Oh, I got mentioned! The thing I wrote got mentioned!' So it's really lovely when that happens, and I definitely felt that when we did that in The Power of the Doctor, as well.
"It's really powerful, and how you deploy that, and when you deploy that, is really interesting, because it's that weird push and pull between being new and being part of a continuum. And that's one of the great, great things about Doctor Who."
Elsewhere at the glittering Radio Times Covers Party, Mandip Gill revealed she's already messaged new companion Varada Sethu to wish her good luck on the show, and Steven Moffat addressed whether he'll return to write any more episodes.
See more photos from the Radio Times Covers Party 2024 in the new issue of Radio Times magazine, on sale Tuesday 6th February.
Doctor Who will return in May 2024. Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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