‘Doctor Who’ Star Jodie Whittaker Teases ‘Unique’ Companion Relationships In Season 11

It’s not just the star’s gender that’s different in “Doctor Who” Season 11. Jodie Whittaker, who plays the thirteenth incarnation of the alien, told International Business Times how the Doctor’s relationships with the companions will differ this year.

Since “Doctor Who” relaunched in 2005, the Doctor has always had a main companion while several other faces popped in and out. Nine (Christopher Eccleston) had Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and Mickey (Noel Clarke) in the TARDIS, but Rose (Billie Piper) was the main companion. The same went for Eleven (Matt Smith), who partnered up with Amy (Karen Gillan) but also traveled with Rory (Arthur Darvill) and River Song (Alex Kingston) often.

For Thirteen, there is no leading companion when it comes to Yaz (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole) or Graham (Bradley Walsh). “It’s three equal status companions,” she told a small group of reporters at New York Comic Con on Sunday. “As I like to say, my best mates.”

The actress, whose first episode aired Sunday, said that this particular decision was made by showrunner Chris Chibnall as a way to bring back a dynamic from the show’s early days. “I think the thing for Chris, as a true Whov, this was the start of it as a concept. Back in the day, there was three, and I think for him it felt like he wanted to really use that DNA of the show and bring it back.”

Whittaker, however, didn’t watch the recent seasons of “Doctor Who.” She wanted to make the role her own, so she only knows her Doctor’s relationship with the companions. “The thing for me is, I don’t know any different. So I imagine it is an interesting transition if you were [watching] Peter [Capaldi, who played Twelve] and you know, this season came and there was three companions. But for me, it’s all I know,” she added.

Sunday’s Season 11 premiere made it clear that she views the companions as a team, and they all have history with Ryan. Yaz went to school with him while Graham was his grandmother’s second husband. Whittaker hinted that the relationships between the humans should be interesting to watch.

“The wonderful thing is the energy and the unique relationships between all of us. Like the Doctor’s relationship with Yaz, Yaz with Graham, or Ryan with the Doctor, all of that is unique. And then with each other Ryan and Yaz, and Yaz and Graham, and Graham and Ryan, all that.”

She added that their perspectives will be important to the series as well. “It gives you the opportunity to not only see these adventures and worlds through the Doctor’s eyes but through the eyes of people of all ages and backgrounds, but actually a world in which we live in today, 2018,” Whittaker emphasized. “And it gives you the opportunity to maybe explore a certain adventure through the point of view of [the companions]. It feels very ensemble. It’s not always the Doctor at the forefront, which is interesting and makes it a very rich season.”

See the Doctor and her team on Sundays at 8 p.m. EDT when “Doctor Who” airs on BBC America.