We’re six episodes into Doctor Who‘s eleventh season now and, on the whole, fans have embraced Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor and the new direction showrunner Chris Chbnall has steered the show in. However, some haven’t taken so well to the increased emphasis on human stories with themes such as racism and cultural divisions, like this Sunday’s “Demons of the Punjab.”
Even just the central cast compromising of a Caucasian middle-aged man, a black man, a woman of Asian descent and a woman in the role of the Doctor has got some moaning about “political correctness.” But a guest star of next week’s episode has now offered the perfect response to these people.
Julie Hedsmondhalgh, who previously worked with Chibnall and Whittaker on crime drama Broadchuch, gave her thoughts on the issue to Digital Spy and didn’t hold back at all.
“It’s just such a load of bollocks. It’s just hilarious. [It happens] as you soon as you get a little bit of diversity, which to me is really exciting. To watch that first episode and see proper representation was absolutely brilliant for me. I was buzzing off it, because that’s the world we live in and when you see it reflected on-screen, it’s like, ‘Oh, finally, this is great!'”
Hesmondhalgh plays Judy Maddox in episode 7, titled “Kerblam!”, which promises to be a space-set adventure. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the official synopsis:
“A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor (played by Jodie Whittaker), leading her, Graham (Bradley Walsh), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy’s largest retailer, Kerblam.”
After the tragedy of the most recent episode, we probably need some lighter fare to readjust the balance, so we look forward to seeing “Kerblam!”, which could be more of a crowd-pleaser. Then again, the sort of “fan” that Hesmondhalgh blasts above could probably find something about even the finest episodes to dislike.
For the rest of us, we can enjoy Doctor Who season 11 every Sunday on BBC America.