When Doctor Who fans tuned in for the latest series they weren’t expecting to meet a new version of the sci-fi drama’s lead character, but when Jo Martin’s new “Fugitive” Doctor was unveiled in episode five they soon had a whole new regeneration to fit into their heads.


But now, Martin has suggested that her Doctor may have been more familiar to viewers than they realised, with her take on the character notably similar to another recent lead performance in the role.

“What I quite like is she can be a bit grumpy, a bit moody, this Doctor,” Martin told Doctor Who Magazine. “A little like Capaldi, maybe.

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“She’s got an edge and a dark side to her as well as being cheeky and charming. And she doesn’t really have a filter.”

Yes, in Martin’s head her Doctor exists somewhere on a continuum with Peter Capaldi’s famously irascible (but still kind-hearted) 12th Doctor, who starred in Doctor Who from 2013 to 2017 – and in keeping with the crossover, the new Doctor’s costume even included a nod or two to the 12th Doctor’s costume.

“I’m a huge fan of Peter Capaldi too,” Martin said. “There were a few nods to Capaldi’s Doctor’s outfit within my costume, actually.

“I thought that was really clever and the right thing to do for the kind of Doctor that I was trying to create. Ray [Holman] worked so hard, he’s a genius designer.”

Holman for his part admits he did include an explicit Capaldi callback, noting that the trousers and boots worn by Martin in the role are a mirror of his.

“Jo wears them just like Peter [Capaldi] used to wear them. I made her,” he laughed.

“I said to Jo, ‘Peter used to wear his boots with his black trousers like this.'”

However, Capaldi’s Doctor wasn’t the only former regeneration to get a nod in the new look.

“I wanted little references to existing Doctors in the costume, although I only decided what these should be once Jo [Martin] was cast and I talked to her,” Holman told Doctor Who Magazine.

“Because the first Doctor I ever designed properly – from head to foot – was Matt Smith, I wanted some kind of tweed. Both the waistcoat and the coat ended up being Scottish tweed. I was really happy with that. The coat was a period-cut coat, which is a nod to some of the older ‘classic’ series Doctors, too.”

In other words, Martin’s Fugitive Doctor fits in with the whole pantheon of Time Lords past. Makes sense, considering they’re actually her future…


Doctor Who Magazine issue 549 is on sale now. Doctor Who will return to BBC One in late 2020/early 2021