Doctor Who says goodbye to Jodie Whittaker in 2022, and while many are excited for the future and what Ncuti Gatwa will bring to the table, Whittaker's run deserves its acknowledgment. The Thirteenth Doctor had many great moments, all of which we should remember ahead of her final episode.
HBO Max subscribers can stream some of the Thirteenth Doctor’s greatest moments right now, but may not be sure on where exactly to start. In aiding that enterprise, let’s revisit those iconic moments (as well as the episodes in which they occurred) in a trip down memory lane celebrating Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor.
The Doctor Makes Her Sonic Screwdriver
The Thirteenth Doctor was different from past incarnations, so it tracks she’d go about creating her sonic screwdriver another way. “The Woman Who Fell To Earth” features The Doctor creating her own sonic screwdriver out of a hodgepodge of materials she finds, and surprisingly, it works out pretty well for her. The Doctor is unable to get a fresh screwdriver from the TARDIS since it exploded ahead of her getting one, so it's awesome to see her showcasing some ingenuity and showing she’s more than capable of getting crafty when the situation calls for it.
Busting Out Of Prison
“Revolution of the Daleks” finds The Doctor in a space prison as a result of various space crimes she’s committed in her acts of helping others. Despite the top-tier security and an environment surrounded by her most fearsome enemies – like the Weeping Angels –The Doctor makes a daring escape with the help of Captain Jack Harkness, which was certainly a reunion many Doctor Who fans were excited about. Seeing Jack and Doctor team up again for something so daring was awesome, and something we might not see ever again considering recent controversies involving John Barrowman.
Outsmarting Daleks In A Time Loop
The Doctor has dealt with time in just about all facets throughout their history, but some situations are tougher than others. “Eve of the Daleks” traps The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan in a time loop with not one but two Daleks they have to defeat in order to escape. With the help of Nick and Sarah, the group is ultimately successful, but they wouldn’t have stood a chance without The Doctor’s well-constructed plan of fooling both Daleks into predicting the wrong move. Of all of the 13th Doctor’s encounters with the Daleks, this Doctor Who special definitely feels the most memorable.
Learning Her True Origins
The Doctor’s past has always been complicated, though there arguably hasn't been anything quite so wild as what The Master revealed in Season 12. We learn that The Doctor is not actually a Time Lord biologically, but instead was an alien child found and raised by a Gallifreyan scientist, Tecteun. Tecteun learned about The Doctor’s seemingly limitless regeneration, and through testing, managed to find how to implant the regenerative properties into Galifreyans. Thus the Time Lords were born, and The Doctor’s memory was erased. The moment was great because it might just be the most meaningful piece of canon to Doctor Who in years and a legacy that will stand as one of Jodie Whittaker’s most impactful moments.
Saving Mary Shelley
Jodie Whittaker’s run on Doctor Who doesn't have a ton of episodes steeped in history, but the ones that are absolutely crushed it. “The Haunting of Villa Diodati” is a great example of this, as The Doctor and her companions met Mary Shelley at the same time she’d conceive the story of Frankenstein. The Doctor instructs her friends not to bring that up to Shelley, but it appears they inadvertently inspire her when a human half-converted into a Cyberman storms Lord Byron’s estate in search of Cyberium. The Doctor ultimately has to swallow a loss in the end and relinquish the Cyberium to prevent mass destruction, but fans will ultimately see this as a great moment since it’s absolutely one of the best time period adventures of modern Doctor Who.
Outsmarting Swarm And Azure
Doctor Who: Flux might be the most confusing adventure of Jodie Whittaker’s run as The Doctor, but I do know just enough about it to confirm The Doctor’s outsmarting of Swarm and Azure is among one of her greatest feats. To take down a duo who can manipulate time on the level they can is truly remarkable, and to their credit, it takes The Doctor most of the series to find a way to even impact them in the slightest. She is only successful by splitting her consciousness between three copies of herself, who then work to save the day while Azure and Swarm believe she is inactive. In reality, she manipulates the Flux into consuming the Sontarans, Daleks, Cybermen, and Jericho, eliminating all of Earth’s threats. It's pretty fantastic work from The Doctor, even if the whole affair was a bit more violent than she usually likes to operate.
Meeting The Fugitive Doctor
It’s not uncommon for The Doctor to team up with other versions of themself, but usually when Doctor Who does that it's another Doctor viewers already know. The BBC series blindsided viewers watching “Fugitive of the Judoon” when it was revealed a normal human by the name of Ruth was actually The Doctor living with her memory erased. Fans got to see the the Fugitive Doctor and the Thirteenth Doctor interact a couple more times – though I think it’s fair to say many would’ve liked to see them interact more. Nevertheless, the first episode with the reveal was an all-time great reveal for Doctor Who and a wonderful moment for Jodie Whittaker's era.
Taking On The Master In An Epic Spy Showdown
Sacha Dhawan’s run as the new Master is one of the high points in the Thirteenth Doctor's run, and that’s thanks in no small part to “Spyfall.” The two-part series marks the first time the character surfaces since 2017, and what an entrance it is. In classic Master fashion, he proves exactly why he’s one of the best enemies in Doctor Who history. The Master makes a grand reveal to The Doctor right as a plane their on is crashing to the ground, then teleports her from the plane and leaves her companions to die. Fortunately, the Doctor is able to orchestrate a scenario (using time travel) for the companions to save themselves after she leaves, which is one of the greatest feats of her entire run.
Doctor Who plans to air Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as The Doctor in fall of 2022 on BBC America. It’ll be exciting to see how her final adventure plays out and how her epic regeneration will take place.
