It’s time First female Doctor Who rips up the rulebook
The actress becomes the 13th Time Lord and first female to play the role when the show returns on BBC1 tonight – and she’s wearing her predecessor’s old outfit. But as the series opens, the intergalactic time traveller has no idea of the change of gender.
In the episode titled The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Jodie is seen running through a train asking a police off icer why she is calling her “madam”. As she remembers her regeneration from Capaldi’s cantankerous characterisation, she says: “Sorry, half an hour ago I was a whitehaired Scotsman.”
Jodie’s debut is a new beginning for the popular, long-running show. Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall has taken over as showrunner from Scots writer Steven M off at and Jo die commands the Tardis with new companions including To sin Cole, Man dip Gill and Bradley Walsh.
The show ha s also moved from its traditional Saturday night slot to Sunday and there will be fewer episodes, with the series running to just 10. Chibnal l said: “Final ly, Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor is about to crash land on to the nation’s screens. “It’s thrilling to think that, in the next weeks and months, there will be children encountering Jodie’s Doctor who’ve never seen the show before. “She’ll be forever their Doctor – you never forget your f i rst . The journey ’ s about to begin.” Some 10mi l l ion viewers are set to tune in tonight at 6.45pm on BBC1 – and more than 4000 of them will be from Jodie’s home village of Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Locals have turned the place into something akin to a Doctor Who set in honour of the girl they have known since she was a kid. There’s a life- size Tardis outside a butcher’s and a diner sel l ing Dalek-shaped pizza. And no one is more proud than Jodie’s dad Adrian Whittaker, 68, who said: “Jodie is a lovely girl, I love her to bits. “We can’t wait for the show to start and we will be watching as a family.”