Doctor Who actor defends show’s decision to “change things up”

The 11th season of Doctor Who dropped back in 2018, to cheers and jeers from different parts of the fandom. Personally, I thought it kept pace with the rest of the revival series, and was more memorable than the last couple of seasons. Jodie Whittaker was fun as the new Doctor, and episodes like “Rosa” — about the Montgomery bus boycott — “Demons of the Punjab” — about the partition of India — and “The Witchfinders” — about the English witch hunts that happened during the reign of King James — were some of the most enjoyable episodes in a while, at least for me. I guess I prefer the show’s historical episodes to the futuristic ones.

But not everyone felt that way. According to Digital Spy, “[t]he sci-fi series’ attempts to increase inclusivity and diversity with its characters, plots and settings didn’t sit well with some fans.” Digital Spy asked Hamza Jeetooa, who appeared in Demons of the Punjab, how the Doctor Who team felt about those reactions.

“There’s always going to be people with opinions saying we don’t see it this way and we don’t believe that, but I felt really confident about it and really excited to be a part of it and make a little bit of history,” Jeetooa said. “I remember the creative team were very much excited by the fact that they knew there would be people who would not be as excited. They would want it to be just the way Doctor Who was before.”

"But they (the crew) wanted to change things up and they wanted to open it up to a whole new audience as well. So there may have been some audience lost, but there has been so much gained as well, for the better."

If you’re wondering, ratings for the eleventh season ticked up compared to the two before it, at least in the UK, although it’s hard to know if that was because of greater diversity onscreen, the novelty of another new Doctor, new showrunner Chris Chibnall putting his stamp on the series, people just being ready for more Doctor Who, or what. In any case, it looks like it’s mostly audience gained.

Honestly, I’m not embedded enough in the Doctor Who fandom to know precisely what some fans objected to, or if Jeetooa’s comments are responsive to those objections. Again, I enjoyed the new season a bit more than I had the few that preceded it, especially the historical episodes — Alan Cumming as King James was cracking my s**t up. To me, season 11 didn’t seem drastically better or worse than the rest of the series.

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The discussion will continue when Whittaker returns as the Doctor in season 12, sometime in 2020.

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