Jodie Whittaker will make history when she steps into the Tardis as the first female Doctor Who.
Fans were made to wait until Wimbledon had finished before the BBC made the big announcement this afternoon.
Whittaker, who made a name for herself as Beth Latimer in ITV’s Broadchurch, will take the reins as the 13th doctor when Peter Capaldi steps down at the end of the year.
The actress had become joint favourite to land the job after the writer who launched her career through Broadchurch was picked to run the new Dr Who series. Chris Chibnall wrote Whittaker into a leading role in the whodunnit, and landed the Dr Who job earlier this year.
Whittaker, 35, from Huddersfield, said: “I’m beyond excited to begin this epic journey - with Chris and with every Whovian on this planet.It’s more than an honour to play the Doctor. It means remembering everyone I used to be while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for. I can’t wait.”
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Chibnall said the 13th Doctor was always going to be a woman. He said: “I always knew I wanted the 13th Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number-one choice.
“Her audition for the Doctor simply blew us all away. Jodie is an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature and will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role. The 13th Doctor is on her way.”
The announcement was made on BBC One following Roger Federer’s win over Marin Čilić in the Wimbledon Men’s Singles final. In a short clip, also posted on Twitter by the official Doctor Who account, a cloaked Whittaker approached the Tardis in a leafy forest and opened her hand to reveal a key.
Capaldi will make his last appearance on the show in this year’s Christmas special when Whittaker will make her debut.
Who’s Who?
Born in June 1982 in Huddersfield, Whittaker dreamed of becoming an actress as a teenager. After leaving school at 16, she completed a Btec in performing arts before attending Guildhall School of Music and Dram, where she was joined by Hayley Atwell and Michelle Dockery.
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She also met her husband, American actor Christian Contreras, at Guildhall. They married in 2008 and had their first child in 2015.
She left drama school in 2005 for a part in Storm at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, and subsequently won her first film role in Venus (2006) alongside Peter O’Toole,
St Trinian’s with her close friend Gemma Arterton and Good alongside the Lord Of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen. Then she was cast as Beth Latimer in Broadchurch.