Jodie sad to say goodbye to Bradley and Tosin, who play Graham and Ryan
Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor and her pals have travelled the length of time and space since starting their journey together back in 2018, but the fab four will be parting ways at the end of the upcoming holiday special!
The Doctor Who Christmas special begins where this year’s series left off, with the Time Lord incarcerated in an alien prison, while her friends Graham (Bradley Walsh), Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Yaz (Mandip Gill) continue their lives on Earth.
After discovering a sinister Dalek plot, the trio spring into action, but how do you fight the fearsome aliens without the Doctor? Well a helping hand from fan favourite, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) is always useful!
https://youtu.be/OEVWuYVUsBs
With a host of special guests and some spectacular action, the upcoming special looks set to be a memorable one for viewers, yet it will also be the final outing for Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan (Tosin Cole).
We caught up with Jodie Whittaker to find out more about Revolution of the Daleks
How is the Doctor coping when we join her at the start of the episode?
Jodie Whittaker: "The Doctor is in prison and has been there for a very very long time. Time plays out in a certain way for the Doctor as well, so I think what’s interesting for the start of this episode is how the discoveries and journeys that we all go on, aren’t necessarily Doctor-led. It’s definitely a team effort throughout and that's what makes it really exciting."
How emotional were you while filming your final scenes with Graham and Tosin?
JW: "On a personal level – absolutely devastated! Without going into any specifics about character or what happens or anything, just purely knowing it was the last scenes with those actors... both of them had to carry me to my trailer! I’ve not cried like that for such a long time. Brad couldn’t cope with it at all and Tosin said he really couldn’t cope with me getting so upset. I was wailing!"
You've been on quite a journey together?
JW: "When you realise it’s the last moment for these four characters or your last moment with that character individually, it's so emotional. I felt incredibly bereaved about what this journey has been, because this started as us four and that’s so unique. Our whole journey has been together as a family and we’ve clicked like a family and it feels like we’ll never see each other again!"
Captain Jack will be back, but will he and the Doctor cross paths? What was it like working with John Barrowman?
JW: "All I can say is that if I was ever to have met him, I think maybe the things I would take from meeting him - if I imagined that scenario - is that he’s incredibly energetic and passionate, as a person and as Captain Jack, and those are things that have really bonded us as a family. We’re going at things at a million miles an hour and to have a character that can keep up is really exciting and keeps everyone going. But I can only say that from rushes of other people’s scenes because – who knows?"
Chris Noth also returns as brash American businessman, Jack Robertson...
JW: "Chris and Brad in the same scene was amazing! Mandip and I saw Chris at the BIFAs (The British Independent Film Awards) and he was like ‘I want to come back!’ and we were like ‘Oh cool, we had fun’ and he said he’d been talking to his agent about it. I think for us its important that if someone’s going to come on the show and they’re going to leave their families, especially someone coming from abroad, you want that energy to not be faked in the scene and you want it to be a real bubble of excitement and I feel like we’ve been so lucky with Chris. He's a comedy genius as well, I think he’s hilarious!"
Are you looking forward to facing off against the Daleks again?
JW: "I think they're brilliant because they require no previous knowledge of the Doctor Who universe. The TARDIS is a part of people’s vocabulary if they’ve seen the show or not, and so is a Dalek. You have little kids knowing "EXTERMINATE!" even today. When the Doctor has scenes where she's dealing with – or at times failing to deal with – such an iconic monster, it feels as if it really puts our stamp on our time doing the show. They're so creepy and scary too… you know you’re going to be upstaged!"
We loved the video the Doctor recorded during the first lockdown, who's idea what that?
JW: "Chris Chibnall (Doctor Who showrunner) and I were having lots of conversations at the start of the pandemic and we agreed that it felt bizarre, like we were in some episode in some way. It felt like we needed the Doctor to speak, so Chris wrote something for me and asked if I thought I could shoot it. I did it on my phone right there and then! Mandip was like ‘Oh your lighting was great!’ and I said ‘It was the window outside my wardrobe!’ Luckily I'm such a fan that I take my costume with me everywhere. I was doing cosplay in my cupboard. But what Chris wrote was so poignant and it wasn’t trying to minimise or dramatise, we just thought the Doctor needed to say something."
Revolution of the Daleks, starring Jodie Whittaker, is on BBC1 on New Year's Day at 6.45pm (see our TV Guide for full listings).
