When the Doctor Who Christmas special hit screens this past Christmas Day (December 25, 2017), Jodie Whittaker finally made her debut in the titular role, becoming the first female-bodied version of the character on the small screen. One of the most noticeable aspects of her version of the Doctor however, aside from her gender, was her thick Yorkshire accent.
Now, for those viewers who were wondering why she’s using her natural voice in the series rather than one that would be similar to the Doctors of recent memory, the actress has opened up.
Chatting with Doctor Who Magazine, she said: “All the Doctors’ voices have been different. There have been various dialects, and I knew coming into it that there wasn’t a rule that you had to speak a certain way.
“Obviously anyone who’s seen me knows that this isn’t the only voice I’m comfortable doing. If it hadn’t worked during the scenes in the audition process I’m sure they would have picked up on that immediately.
“So in a strange way, I don’t know how much of an actual decision it was. I think [the discussion] happened before I was even cast.”
The Northern accent is something that immediately saw discussion flare up on social media, with the overwhelming majority of viewers excited to hear yet another brilliant voice come to the Doctor character.
Whittaker isn’t the first Doctor to bring the North to the series, with Christopher Eccleston’s iteration of the Doctor, which brought the series back from its long hiatus, allowing his Salford accent to shine through in all of his scenes.
Now though, we look to the future. Whittaker’s version of the Doctor has already been taken into the hearts of the millions who tuned in on Christmas Day, and we can’t wait to see her shine in her first full-length series in the autumn.
Doctor Who is set to return to BBC One later this year. You can read Whittaker’s full interview in issue 521 of Doctor Who Magazine.
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