Jodie Whittaker Is Now the New 'Doctor'
by EG
We've known for some time that Jodie Whittaker would take over the title role in Doctor Who at the end of this year, but it's finally happened. The Doctor regenerated on this week's Christmas special, turning the role over to Whittaker from Peter Capaldi.
Jodie Whittaker has officially taken over for Peter Capaldi as the lead role in the hit BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who.
At the end of the one-hour special broadcast on Christmas Day, Scottish actor Capaldi "regenerated" into English actress Whittaker, who made history as the first woman to ever play the iconic time-traveling character. Running since 1963, Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi series in the world and airs to dozens of territories globally.
Whittaker was chosen to play the Thirteenth Doctor by new showrunner Chris Chibnall, who took over the series after the departure of Steven Moffat. Chibnall has already penned a number of episodes for Doctor Who, including stories for the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor, played by David Tennant (Jessica Jones) and Matt Smith (The Crown), respectively. The writer has performed showrunner duties on the show’s spin-off Torchwood, Arthurian legend series Camelot for Starz, and the U.K. version of Law & Order.
But Chibnall is perhaps best known for creating Broadchurch, which was remade in the U.S. as Gracepoint (and also starred Tennant) and in France as Malaterra. The show, which ran for three seasons in the U.K. (regularly reaching over 10 million viewers) also featured Whittaker in a major role.
The actress made her Doctor Who debut at the end of an emotionally-charged episode where the Time Lord teamed up with a previous incarnation of himself, culminating in a scene during the famed Christmas armistice between opposing forces during WWI.
In a spectacular final 80 seconds, Whittaker's new Doctor only said two words: "Oh, brilliant!" This came after a moment of quiet in the TARDIS after Capaldi's explosive regeneration, which saw his trademark ring fall to the ground after the change. Her first move in the time machine caused it to spit her out above Earth, where she was left falling as the TARDIS flew off, its interior on fire. Whittaker's opener managed to surprise, suggesting the Doctor will be without her trusty ship for some time.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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