About Time, Lord...
After 12 male Doctor Who stars we finally get a woman
BROADCHURCH star Jodie Whittaker has made history after being unveiled as the first ever female Doctor Who.
The actress, 35, will take over from Peter Capaldi as the 13th incarnation of the Time Lord.
Bookies received a flurry of bets on Saturday and made Whittaker the 1-5 odds-on favourite before yesterday’s announcement. She had been an 100-1 outsider.
Capaldi, who has been the Doctor since 2013, will make his last appearance in a 2017 Christmas special.
A clip posted on the official Doctor Who Twitter account and aired on BBC1 after the Wimbledon men’s final showed a cloaked Whittaker approaching the Tardis in a forest and opening her hand to reveal a key.
The Huddersfield-born actress stars as Beth Latimer in Baftawinning Broadchurch and stripped off in 2006 film Venus, in which film legend Peter O’Toole sets her up to become a life model.
Whittaker said she told her husband, American actor Christian Contreras, about the role but they had to keep it top secret and even made up a codename for the role.
She said: “It was The Clooney. Because to me and my husband, George is an iconic guy. And we thought: what’s a really famous iconic name? It was just fitting.”
She also reassured fans “not to be scared by my gender”. She said: “This is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new one, not a fearful one.”
She joins Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall, who is taking over as Doctor Who showrunner from Steven Moffat.
He said: “I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have our number one choice.” Outgoing Doctor Peter Capaldi added: “Jodie is a wonderful actress. She’s going to be a fantastic Doctor.”
Capaldi and former Doctor Who stars Billie Piper and Karen Gillan had called for a female Time Lord. Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler, said the responsibility would be “too enormous” for her.