“I felt it was more heartbreaking if they didn’t.”
Former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has revealed why the Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin never kissed on the show.
Doctor Who fans had been shipping the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companion Yasmin (Mandip Gill) all season and cheers were heard from ‘Thasmin’ fans when an episode confirmed Yaz had feelings for the Doctor.
However, when it came to Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Doctor, fans were left disappointed when there was no romantic moment shared between the two.
Chris Chibnall has now revealed why he opted to not acknowledge the love story. Speaking on the WHO Corner to Corner podcast, the showrunner explained Thasmin was an “unrequited love story”.
“We discussed it. I think it’s an unrequited love story. I don’t know whether that’s the right decision, but it is an unrequited love story,” he explained.
Chibnall continued: “I felt it was more heartbreaking. It wasn’t like there wasn’t any sense of ‘they’re not allowed to kiss’ or ‘they’re not going to kiss’. Dramatically [and] emotionally, it felt slightly more wrenching if they didn’t.
“And also, I think if they kiss, you don’t get the final scene on top of the TARDIS, because that scene was always sort of the kiss really.”
He added: “It’s a really delicate kind of pressure because it could have happened. And who said didn’t happen? But it wasn’t any sort of conscious decision to not to have it for anything other than ‘is it going to break your heart if they never quite get there?'”
While noting a kiss could have happened but viewers were never able to see it, Chibnall said if he had to make a decision about Yaz and the Thirteenth Doctor again, he would make it differently.
