On the last day of San Diego Comic-Con, the cast of Doctor Who took the stage in Hall H to the delight of thousands of fans who had stood in line for hours for the privilege of being there.

It was delightful to see Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat, Pearl Mackie, Michelle Gomez, Matt Lucas and Mark Gatiss all on stage at once. Seeing their chemistry and the bond they share made it clear why Doctor Who continues to be the lightning in a bottle that it is.

There were several memorable moments from the panel, including this lively discussion as to the Doctor’s real name (surprisingly, it’s established in canon that his name is actually, literally, “Doctor Who”).  Watch.

A sad bit was when fan favorite Pearl Mackie revealed that this upcoming Christmas special, Twice Upon a Time, will be the last time we see her character Bill Potts.

There was also some commentary from Moffat about the discord regarding the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor:

There are so many press articles about a backlash in Doctor Who fandom about the casting of a female Doctor. There has been no backlash at all. The story of the moment is that the notionally conservative Doctor Who fandom has utterly embraced that change, completely. 80% approval on social media – not that I check these things obsessively [audience laughs here]  – and yet so many people are wanting to pretend there’s a problem. There isn’t. In fact, it strikes me that Doctor Who fans are more excited about a brilliant actress being cast in the part than the fact that she’s a woman. It’s been incredibly progressive and enlightened, and that’s what’s really happened.

[Editor’s note here – when we posted our article announcing Jodie Whittaker’s casting in the title role of Doctor Who, we did get a thread of very upset fans, some of whom got abusive about it, whom we eventually had to ban from our social media because of it. However, these were in the vast minority, and overall the response has been very positive.]

Alas, Jodie Whittaker was not in attendance, but we’re certain she will be at the next major convention in 2018. These are Peter Capaldi’s last few months as the Doctor, and it’s time to regenerate.

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SCIFI Radio Staff

SCIFI Radio Staff

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