Dear Jodie Whittaker,
Writing this hasn’t been easy and in many ways this isn’t a goodbye letter. It’s more of an appreciation letter; one filled with love and hope for what you have given us on Doctor Who, what you’re going to give us, and how you’ve changed The Doctor forever. So, maybe this is a love letter of sorts born out of the respect I have for you as a woman and actress.
Let’s start from the beginning.
I remember the first time I realized that you were going to be The Doctor. Even writing this now I’m getting chills because as women we were told over and over again that this would never happen and that a woman couldn’t be the Doctor. So, when I saw your delicate hands, the silhouette of your frame, I knew something was different. I knew you were a woman.
Then I saw your face. Losing it doesn’t even begin to cover it. I was happy, felt like this was a dream come true, and couldn’t even begin to share my excitement with my best friend because my hands were shaking so much. And this coming from someone who loves the show as a whole and who ended up studying abroad in England because of Doctor Who.
And of course there were the haters, the ones who said this made no sense. But they didn’t matter then and they don’t matter now because you have absolutely rocked it when it comes to the role of The Doctor. You have made it your own, brought in a whole new generation of viewers, and showed the world that women can get shit done.
Now, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some ups and downs. Every Doctor has those and we come to learn, appreciate, and grow with them as they unravel who this new version of The Doctor is. And we saw that with you, Jodie. In fact, you’re the reason why I fell in love with this show again, going back and exploring what brought me to this place.
The announcement that you’re leaving Doctor Who hurts. But it’s part of your journey and part of ours. And if there’s anything that your Doctor has taught me once more it’s that change happens. You can either run from it, hide from it, or stare it right in the face and tell it to piss off because you’re standing your ground til your dying breath.
You are strength, talent, hope, and love personified. You are the change that this world needs. And I know that your time as The Doctor on Doctor Who will never be forgotten. In fact, I think it’ll open more doors for other Doctor’s who people never thought possible; like a woman of color or a nonbinary person. It could happen and it started with you.
So, as much as I’m going to miss you, I’m excited for what the future holds for this show and what next steps you take in your career, Jodie. And to fans out there that are feeling sad and distraught over Jodie Whittaker’s departure from Doctor Who, feel that pain and know you’re not alone in it. We’re with you and we support you just as we support Jodie.
Sincerely,
A Whovian who never we’d get to this point but here we are!
Doctor Who is set to return to BBC later on this year.
Everything you said plus…though I think we can agree that the writing and focus (or the lack thereof) the character has had has caused this departure. I have never, or at worst rarely, blame the actor for the character if the character has not been written well. Timeless Child, regardless of how they are spinning this upcoming series to have one overarching story, has thrown a lot against the wall and I’m not that sure it can just be timey-wimeyed away nor ‘resolved’ in a nice tidy bow. I am a Whovian from the Fourth Doctor days, and as much as it hurts to say this, maybe it is time for the Doctor to have another hiatus where instead of letting it sit and then decide years later to reboot it, just take that hiatus time to work out the narrative in a way that you can soft-reboot it with whomever is chosen to follow Jodie, whether it is the Doctor from Fugitive of The Jadoon (though as I said about TC, this being a linear connotation is not ensured, remember we had Hurt as the War Doctor inserted into the narrative, via Paul McGann’s now canon Doctor’s exit, ow my head hurts LOL) or whomever…just a thought, and I too will miss Jodie, as we still never got enough Harkness interaction ala the way he was Ten’s unspoken companion even if he wasn’t on the TARDIS proper at the time, or the real crossovers we will only hear on a Big Picture production, Thirteen/Missy and/or Thirteen/River :'(