The Power of the Doctor finally gave us the next incarnation of the Time Lord and it was not who we were all expecting to see. In the special Doctor Who episode, Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor regenerated into a version of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor instead of the previously announced Ncuti Gatwa.
However, that's not the only surprise we got in this particular Doctor Who regeneration scene. Whovians were quick to wonder why the new Fourteenth Doctor regenerated in his own clothes instead of Thirteen's clothes. Luckily, new showrunner Russell T. Davies has offered an explanation for the costume change.
Russell T. Davies recently spoke to Doctor Who magazine where he addressed the costume change in The Power of the Doctor (via Radio Times).
"I was very certain that I didn’t want David to appear in Jodie’s costume. I think the notion of men dressing in ‘women’s clothes’, the notion of drag, is very delicate. I’m a huge fan of that culture and the dignity of that, it’s truly a valuable thing," Davies said.
"But it has to be done with immense thought and respect. With respect to Jodie and her Doctor, I think it can look like mockery when a straight man wears her clothes. To put a great big six-foot Scotsman into them looks like we’re taking the mickey," he continued.
"If they can play with gender in a sarcastic or critical way, they will," Davies added. "We could have the Doctor dressed as a knight, or dressed as God, or dressed as William Hartnell, and the only photo they’d print would be of David in what they considered to be women’s clothes."
It's an interesting explanation considering that it's the first time that the Doctor had regenerated into new clothes. On the other hand, it's also the first time that the Doctor has regenerated from a woman to a man so Russell T. Davies' decision to change things up was a unique choice.
Doctor Who returns in 2023.
Related: Doctor Who: Ncuti Gatwa Gives New Whovians a Primer on the Fifteenth Doctor
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