Move over Time Lords: the first female Doctor might be about to step out of the Tardis.
Jodie Whittaker, who found fame in the Bafta-winning ITV drama Broadchurch, yesterday emerged as the joint favourite to land the lead role in Doctor Who.
The identity of the actor to replace Peter Capaldi as the 13th Doctor will be announced on BBC1 this afternoon after the men’s singles final at Wimbledon.
Whittaker, 35, was not even among the top 20 actors tipped for the coveted role a week ago. But by last night Ladbrokes Coral had dramatically revised her odds and she was neck and neck with the BBC’s Death In Paradise actor Kris Marshall, 44, at 6-4.
Whittaker is not the only woman in the running. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 32, star of the BBC comedy Fleabag, is also a contender with odds of 6-1, while, Olivia Colman, 43, who also starred in Broadchurch, is 25-1. The Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton, 56, is 20-1.
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Fans of Doctor Who may have picked up on a series of clues that the Time Lord is about to change sex after he told his latest assistant Bill: “We’re billions of years beyond your petty obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes.”
Whittaker’s credits include the 2011 British science fiction film Attack the Block, in which she starred with John Boyega, who went on to take the lead role in Star Wars: Episode VII. She also appeared in the BBC adaptation in 2008 of Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
Capaldi, who became the Doctor after Matt Smith stepped aside in 2013, will make his last appearance on Christmas Day.