Every time I think I have a grip on what Jodie means to me I see something else and start wanting to cry. Little girl me couldn’t have DREAMED of such things. Little me, growing up in the 80s, mostly saw that boys and men had all the adventures, got to be the heroes.
And I am SO glad that it’s changing. I am SO glad that little girls and boys can now see women be the heroes. Little me would pretend to be a boy having adventures because that was the way she thought it worked. Little girls now can just… have the adventures. They can just be.
They had Doctor Who on public television over here, so I have been watching since I was about 10. When I found out the Doctor would be a woman, I’m not ashamed to say, I was in tears.
Whittaker: As was I. I really cried when I found out, and I’m not ashamed. But it’s important because for us — I’m 36, and when I was growing up, all of my heroes on TV and film, the parts I wanted to be doing, were not the ones that looked like me. They were the ones that were on the sidelines. The girls who were clapping at the side and waving at the boys, who were doing all the fun bits of action and having the heroic moments. I didn’t want to be restricted in my professional career or in my imagination because other people thought women couldn’t do certain things.
