Playing the Doctor on Doctor Who is, by all accounts, the job of a lifetime. You get to be the saviour of the universe, fight and run away from monsters and be a role model for children everywhere, not to mentions the millions of adult fans across the world, too. It’s understandable, then, that it would be an emotional experience when you find out you’ve got the role.
While chatting to BBC Radio 6, the latest Time Lord, Jodie Whittaker, admitted that she cried when she found out that she would be the Thirteenth Doctor – the first female incarnation of the time traveller. “I didn’t faint,” she joked. “I played it really cool…and cried.”
Whittaker discovered that she’d nabbed the coveted role weeks before it was officially announced to the world last month. Funnily enough, she learned the news on the set of TV show Trust Me, in which she plays a woman pretending to be a doctor. So, to keep it quiet, the actress had to pretend to not be the Doctor, all while playing a woman pretending to be a doctor. That’s a complex plot worthy of Steven Moffat!
“There was a long period of time… and I found out that I got it during this job. I think there were a lot of cast members who were like ‘I can’t believe you didn’t tell me?!'”
In her first batch of interviews since being cast, Whittaker’s opened up about how she hopes that her gender “isn’t a fearful thing for the fans” and reminded us that, in the Doctor Who universe, “there aren’t rules and that’s a great thing” – all points that we agree with.
From her comments, it seems that the actress is still reeling from being cast in the role – much like the legion of fans out there who are overjoyed with the decision. Thankfully, there’s not too much longer to go now before we get to see her debut, as she’ll make her first appearance on the show during the Doctor Who Christmas special, which arrives at the end of the year.