Jodie Whittaker has been announced as the 13th Time Lord on Doctor Who and also the first woman to play the iconic role.
But just who is Jodie Whittaker and what has she done prior to this prestigious casting?
Jodie Whittaker was born in June of 1982 and was raised in Skelmanthorpe in Yorkshire.
As an actress she came to prominence for her role in Venus and consolidated her career with roles in films such as Attack The Block and St Trinian’s. But it was her various television roles that brought her more success.
In television she played the role of Izzy Huett in the hit mini series Tess of the D’Urbervilles, which led to various other roles in series such as The Wire, Black Mirror and more recently Broadchurch.
Whittaker will be the first woman to play Doctor Who in an official capacity on the BBC’s longest running science fiction series. Prior to this we got to see the possibilities when Joanna Lumley played a comedic version of the character for a Children In Need skit.
Fan Reaction
Fans have been talking about the possibilities of a Female Doctor Who for as far back as the late 1980’s, but it has not really been a burning issue until recent years.
Thus far from what I have seen, the Fan reaction has has mainly been positive. The surprise being that it was not Kris Marshal, who has been the bookies favourite for a fair bit. One YouTuber in his live reaction said that he didn’t know if he was happy or terrified. His concern was how other people would react to the news.
My feeling is that we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out when the new series gets underway next year, but we’ll get a little taster in the Christmas special later this year.
Luckily Jodie Whittaker is an established actor in the UK and has a strong body of work behind her. So it will be interesting to see what she brings to Doctor Who.
Just how much the fans will embrace her remains to be seen.