Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Doctor Who‘s First Female Doctor

The first episode of Doctor Who aired nearly 54 years ago, and since then, more than a dozen different actors have portrayed the titular Doctor. So far, all of them have been men.

By the end of this year, that will finally change. Over the weekend, the powers that be announced that the 13th Doctor will be played by none other than actress Jodie Whittaker. If you're not familiar with her yet, here's what you need to know about the first female Doctor.

Meet the Thirteenth Doctor #DoctorWho #Doctor13 pic.twitter.com/wycdcneZ7o

— BBC One (@BBCOne) July 16, 2017

1. Jodie Whittaker will make her debut as the Doctor in this year's Doctor Who Christmas special, which airs on Christmas Day.

2. Jodie was born and raised in West Yorkshire, in the north of England, before moving to London to attend drama school. We haven't heard her speaking voice as the Doctor just yet, but we're guessing she's going to keep her real accent for the role. If that's the case, she'll be the second Doctor, after Christopher Eccleston, to speak with a northern accent on the show.

3. One of Jodie Whittaker's most memorable roles was on the mystery crime series Broadchurch as a young mom whose son's death results in a major investigation and the upturning of a small town. Broadchurch was created and written by Chris Chibnall, who will become the Doctor Who's showrunner once Jodie becomes the Doctor.

4. Even though Jodie will be the first female Doctor, she has plenty of friends who can give her some pointers on how to get the job done. Her Broadchurch costars David Tennant and Arthur Darvill respectively played the Doctor and the Doctor's companion in different seasons of the show, and Jodie is also pals with past doctors Christopher Eccleston and Matt Smith.

5. She can also get some tips on space travel from her Attack the Block costar John Boyega, who you may know from a little movie called Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

6. Before the big announcement, Jodie obviously had to keep her appointment as the new Doctor very secret. When speaking to her husband and agent about the role, she referred to it as "The Clooney" because she and her husband thought George Clooney was an iconic, famous character, just like the Doctor.

7. Jodie takes on the role of the Doctor in December, but before that, she's starring in another role where she pretends to be a doctor. In the BBC series Trust Me, she'll play a nurse named Cath who loses her job and steals her friend's identity, posting as a doctor to start her life anew. While the character doesn't sound quite as noble as the time and space-traveling Doctor, we can't wait to see her in the role.

 

We totally called that the next Doctor would be a woman. Click HERE to read all the reasons we wanted Hayley Atwell to be the next Doctor.