Doctor Who star defends Thirteen and Yaz's ending after heartbreaking romance

Doctor Who star Mandip Gill has opened up about the romance between her character Yasmin Khan and the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) as they reprise their characters for a new audio series.

The actress, who's also currently starring in crime drama Cooper & Fry, has defended how the story ended on screen, with the pair not quite getting their happy ending.

"I loved that we didn’t quite get there, because sometimes you don’t," Gill told Radio Times's Gareth McLean.

"Sometimes you don’t know what you’re feeling, if it’s the first time you’re feeling it, and it’s not always easy to express or to understand what it is. And for Yaz, it was about figuring it out. And in these new dramas, we talk about it because in the three years since we saw Yaz and the Doctor together, they’ve been doing stuff and have matured a bit more.

"So we discuss it and we go – it goes – further. On those Big Finish audios, the writers and the stories are so good and they’re not scared of going there. We do further that relationship that I know a lot of people were invested in and cared about. I know I did."

As for reuniting with her pal Whittaker for the new audio dramas?

"So good. You’ve gone back to characters you adore, you're working with these amazing people, and you're also having such a laugh," She said.

"They don't need a budget for location and all that stuff so these stories can go anywhere – and you don’t need to learn your lines. And I get to spend 72 hours in a room together with one of my best friends!"

Whittaker and Gill starred in Doctor Who together for three years, with the pair departing in The Power of the Doctor, after Yaz had admitted her romantic feelings for the Doctor.

The Doctor made it clear that she reciprocated Yaz's feelings, but ruled out any romantic future for them.

However, the pair's dynamic will continue in Big Finish's The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures – and who knows what could happen?!

Mandip Gill features in this week's Radio Times magazine, which is out now.

Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Return of the Doctor is out now.

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