Whoopi Goldberg has revealed that she petitioned the BBC to cast her as the first female Doctor, long before Jodie Whittaker was given the role.
Speaking to another Doctor Who star, David Tennant, on his new podcast, the actor and View host said her pitch for a New York-based Doctor was turned down by bosses, but that she remains a fan of the series.
“I wanted to be the first female Doctor … the American version of Doctor Who ends up in New York and it’s me”, she told Tennant.
“The idea of that so made me happy. But they were like ‘Um no.’ I was like, ‘OK, I’m cool. I understand.’”
Former Broadchurch star Whittaker was later cast the 13th and first female Doctor in 2018, 55 years after the show’s debut.
The interview wasn’t the first time that Goldberg , who on Monday was announced as one of the presenters of this year’s Oscar ceremony, had expressed an interest in appearing on Doctor Who. In 2017 she told the Sun that she was “dying” to appear in the show and hoped BBC bosses would offer her a cameo.
“I always hope when I come to England the BBC will say, ‘Hey we want you to do something.’ I would love that”, she said.
While Goldberg is yet to realise her dream of appearing in the series, she has already starred in another major sci-fi franchise, appearing as Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation. She told Tennant she had long been a fan of the genre for its predictive qualities.
“I always felt like science-fiction predicted the future. Whether it was climate change, hand computers or being able to move around in different dimensions,” she said.
Whittaker will herself appear on an episode of David Tennant Does a Podcast on Tuesday 12 February.
