LOCALS SHARE
NAH then, there’s a new doctor on duty tonight and locals are reight proud of the lass Who has put their Yorkshire village firmly on ’t map.
A mighty 10 million viewers are set to tune in to see Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor Who.
And 4,198 of them will be from Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield.
An army of Jodie’s friends have turned the village into something akin to a Doctor Who set in honour of the girl they have known since she was a nipper.
There’s a life-size Tardis outside John Gawthorne’s butcher’s and a Mediterranean diner is selling Dalek pizza breads. Another Dalek – huge and illuminated – will be hanging from the local pub over Christmas. Skelmanthorpe really has gone crazy for Jodie and anyone who doesn’t like it will be e-x-t-e-r-m-i-n-a-t-e-d.
No one is prouder than Jodie’s dad Adrian Whittaker, 68, who helped joiner Robert Holmes build the Tardis.
She’s been gone a long time but she’s still a Yorkshire lass at heart ADRIAN WHITTAKER ON HIS TELLY STAR DAUGHTER
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He said: “Jodie is a lovely girl, I love her to bits. She’s never been a minute’s trouble, she’s absolutely dead right.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her. We can’t wait for the show to start and will be watching as a family.
“Jodie took us down for the world premiere in Sheffield. She was very well received. We’ve met her colleagues – Bradley, Tosin and Mandip.
“They’re a great team and they’re all very nice people. We love them to bits.
“My wife is down in London now, helping babysit while Jodie gets ready for the series to start.”
Jodie, 36, plays the 13th Doctor, alongside co-stars Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill.
She is keeping her Yorkshire accent for the role and the Mirror told yesterday how American TV audiences needed subtitles to follow her broad twang during an interview. Even if they did misspell Huddersfield as Hoodezfield!
Adrian – who runs a business supplying and fitting protective film for windows – said Jodie has always been proud of her northern heritage. He added: “Even though she’s been gone a long time, and she’s married to an American, she’s still a Skelmanthorpe girl at heart and has always kept her Yorkshire roots.” Villagers echo his words and say Jodie – also star of TV hits Broadchurch and The Assets – loves to return home. She enjoys a wine in local pub The Grove and her “usual” at Solo’s Indian takeaway is a chicken makhani curry and peshwari naan. Staff at the bakery recall how she used to pop in for Parkin cake and take some to London for the late actor Peter O’Toole, her co-star in the movie Venus. And if it’s not an Indian, Jodie enjoys fish and chips and eating out at restau-