I didn’t even tell Dad I was new Doctor Who

NEW Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker kept her new job such a secret that she didn’t even tell her dad.

The Broadchurch actress thought he might accidentally blab to pals and let slip TV’s biggest secret – that she had become the first female Time Lord in the cult show’s 54-year history

“My dad was furious,” Jodie revealed. “But good news is difficult to keep secret.

“You wanna go ‘Have you heard the news?’ But you don’t know how wildfire that would go.”

The only people she told before the BBC’s big reveal – after the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon – were her mother Yvonne and her husband, American actor Christian Contreras.

“Mum kept it from the world,” Yorkshire-born Jodie said. “She was trustworthy.”

Jodie, 35, was brought up in Skelmanthorpe, a small village near Huddersfield, where her dad Adrian had a window blind business and her mother was a nurse.

At 15 they encouraged her to follow her acting dream. After a year backpacking then drama school, she made her screen debut 12 years ago opposite acting legend Peter O’Toole in Venus.

She went on to appear in films Attack the Block and St Trinian’s, hit ITV drama Broadchurch and current BBC drama Trust Me.

But it was her role as victim’s mum Beth Latimer in Broadchurch – where writer Chris Chibnall ensured not even the cast knew which of them was the killer – that led to her playing the Doctor and helped her keep the secret.

Jodie took the hush- hush operation so seriously she even used a codeword – “The Clooney” – when talking to her agent.

Excited

“It was a full military operation,” she said. “I basically whispered for three months and it was tedious even in my own kitchen.

“It is because I knew the idea for the reveal. And I thought if we can get that it will be amazing. I was under the radar the entire time. I am practised at it. With Broadchurch there are so many secrets to keep.” When Chris was appointed executiveive producer of Doctor Who they talked onn the phone.

Jodie said: “I’m friends withith him. I was like ‘Are you excited about your new job? Are you nervous?’

“At that point it was announced ounced he was the show runner for Doctorr Who.

“And then it was a conversation rsation of ‘This is a direction I want it to go in – as in female. Would you consider auditioning?’ning?’ ”

Jodie is quick to point out she had to battle for the part. “It was certainly y not handed to me on a plate,” she says. “There There was this