'Doctor Who' star Mandip Gill believes a woman of colour will one day play the Doctor.
Mandip Gill
The 33-year-old actress - who stars opposite current Time Lady Jodie Whittaker as Yasmin 'Yaz' Khan - thinks there is still a "long way to go" but praised show bosses for being "forward-thinking".
Speaking to Meera Syal in character as Granny Kumar on her Radio4 show ‘Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar’, about the possibility of a woman of colour ever playing the Doctor, she said: "Yeah, I do. I think there’s a long way to go but there’s definitely room for change. And actually I think at the BBC and at Doctor Who they are very open and forward-thinking, so yes."
The former 'Hollyoaks' actress admitted she is "very aware" of being a role model thanks to playing Yaz.
She said: “I am very, very aware there are little people who are watching.”
Mandip admitted she "couldn't believe [her] luck" when she landed her 'Doctor Who' role three years ago.
She recalled: "“I couldn’t believe my luck. I’d filmed 'Casualty' the January before and that was in the same building.
‘We were at the top of the hallway and when I finished 'Casualty', they walked us to the canteen and they were like, ‘Don’t go in that door, that’s for the 'Doctor Who' people!’. There and then I thought I’d never be in 'Doctor Who'… Cut to six, seven months later and you know what? I’m like ‘Don’t go up there… that’s for 'Casualty'!’”
Last year, Jo Martin became the first woman of colour to play an incarnation of the Doctor when she appeared in two episodes of the series, but the show has yet to feature a BAME lead star.
Tagged in Jodie Whittaker Meera Syal