Special Effects

Doctor Who fans know that Jodie Whittaker is the Thirteenth Doctor, and everyone found out at Wimbledon last year. Well, the special effects staff according to this article did not know before the fans. With the casting of the Thirteenth Doctor being so big, the BBC chose not to reveal the actor/actress to the special effects team who would be responsible for the regeneration episode.

The team responsible was lead to believe the next Doctor was a male, and it might be a good thing. Who knows whether the team would have told anyone or not is unclear? Why would the BBC withhold this information from the staff in charge of the regeneration episode and other special effects?

As fans, we are usually the last ones to know about most every change on Doctor Who. It seems odd that the special effects team didn’t have any idea it was Jodie. The BBC did not want anyone to know until the reveal, so they did everything they could to conceal the identity of the Thirteenth Doctor.

The BBC knew the change from a male Doctor to a female Doctor was a big deal. It required fans to see the Doctor in a new way. This change was a pivotal part of Doctor Who history. Therefore, there was a need to to do it right. The BBC didn’t want a leak before their big reveal.

Well, the thought is one which many television programs use. The networks don’t like specific information to leak out before the big day of a reveal. Therefore, this does not come as a surprise to me and maybe not to anyone else.

In someway as fans, this is what we expect from the BBC, but then again there are times when we want the information now. Most if not all fans wanted to know who the Thirteenth Doctor was before Wimbelton, but had to wait. Well, fans you weren’t the only ones who had to wait. The special effects team did as well.

In conclusion, as fans, we believe that people who do the special effects for Doctor Who would know that Jodie was the Thirteenth Doctor. But this time they were left in the dark.