Christmas is approaching, along with the annual Doctor Who holiday special, and with it the eponymous Doctor’s transformation into a new form. Fans who came to the show during the Twelfth Doctor’s era may well be rattled when rays of lights shoot forth from Peter Capaldi, transforming him into the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker. But fear not, new fans! Doctor Who‘s exiting showrunner Steven Moffat and screenwriter/actor Mark Gatiss have some words of advice to step you through.
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CBR spoke with both during a series of roundtable interviews out of Comic-Con International in San Diego. Asked about advice for Capaldi fans who might be rattled by the impending regeneration, Moffat was encouraging. “It’s going to be the most exciting moment for them in watching Doctor Who,” he exclaimed. “That’s when you really get it. You don’t get Doctor Who if you only watch one Doctor. Those people who just fixate on one Doctor, you’re not watching Doctor Who.
“It’s called Doctor Who for a reason,” he continued. “Because you never know who he is, or she is, it’ll be exciting. I remember my first one really was Jon Pertwee into Tom Baker. It was the most exciting episode I had ever seen.”
“I remember I was so devoted to Jon Pertwee,” Gatiss added with a sigh. “I remember thinking, ‘Can he change back? What’s happening?!’…I remember watching that episode at my uncle’s house. I knew it happened. I knew he did change, but what?! It was so thrilling. And then a new person arrived and it was so thrilling. I can still feel that thrill now. You never forget your first time.”
“That’s a brilliant thing that it keeps happening like that,” Moffat said. “It’s always unsettling. But that’s what life’s about, isn’t it?”
“Mmhmm,” Gatiss agreed.
Moffat’s final episode as showrunner will be the Christmas special, “Twice Upon a Time,” which stars Mark Gatiss as the mysterious Captain. After that, Chris Chibnall will take on showrunning for Doctor Who‘s eleventh season, featuring Whitaker as the Thirteenth Doctor.