Jodie Whittaker did her own stunts for Doctor Who

In her first episode as the Doctor in series 11, Whittaker reveals that she performed every single stunt herself

Published: Thursday, 27 September 2018 at 1:41 pm

Move over Tom Cruise, because there’s a new stunt-performing action hero in town – Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker, who has revealed that she performed all her own stunts during the first episode of series 11.

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“In episode one that’s all me,” Whittaker told the crowd at the Doctor Who premiere in Sheffield on Monday 24th September. “I’m really proud of that.”

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While we can’t reveal exactly which stunts she’s referring to, rest assured that it’s an impressive showing from the new Doctor.

While in some later episodes Whittaker did have to hand over to the stunt team, she says she still tried her best to get stuck in on the BBC1 show.

“There are couple of moments in the series where it was deemed not appropriate that I chucked myself out of somewhere," she explained.

"We have a really amazing stunt coordinator and my stunt double Belinda is amazing so there are moments where it needed a professional.

“Actually it was amazing, and the wonderful thing about the Doctor is that it’s all about self-belief in so many ways. You don’t have these outlandish or other-worldly skills. Physically you have a body like anyone else and you can or can’t do certain things.”

Whittaker wasn’t the only one talking up her on-set bravery, with Tosin Cole – who plays Ryan in the series – joking that his own ‘stunt’ of falling off a bike early in the episode should get similar consideration.

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“I did my own stunts too – I dropped that bike over and over again!” he said.

“I wonder if you know how difficult it is to act that you can’t ride a bike when you can.”

“And the Bafta goes to…” Whittaker quipped.

For our part, we’re just glad that both actors survived their 'harrowing' experiences – because the finished episode was well worth the wait.

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Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on Sunday 7th October at 6.45pm

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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