Jodie Whittaker is Doctor Who's Thirteenth Doctor

[brooklynite]

The Verge:

The BBC has just announced that Jodie Whittaker will be the latest actor to take on the role of The Doctor on Doctor Who as the Thirteenth Doctor. Whittaker will replace the current Doctor (the 12th in the series’s history), played by Peter Capaldi, in an upcoming Christmas special before taking on the role fully in the upcoming 11th series of the long-running British science fiction show, which is expected to air in late 2018.

For those not familiar with Doctor Who, the show tells the adventures of the titular Doctor as he travels through time and space in the TARDIS (a time machine shaped like a 1920s British police box) fighting monsters, aliens, and generally saving the world and humanity on a regular basis. The Doctor is a Time Lord, an alien species with the ability to “regenerate” into a new physical form when critically wounded, a plot device that was invented back in the original run in the 1960s to allow the show to continue running with a new actor when William Hartnell — who played the First Doctor — chose to leave the show.

[JHB]

1. Whittaker' IMDB page

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2092886/

[shenmue]

2. Yes

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40624288

[Orrex]

3. It's about damn time!

[bigtree]

4. ha!

[Archae]

5. The fit is about to hit the shan...

I would like to see her before I say if she's good or not.

[Igel]

9. Yup.

I've only recall seeing her in Broadchurch.

Part of the "good doctors'" charm is their humor and repartee, part their quick-wittedness, and part their demeanor. In Broadchurch, her character was humorless, not terribly quick witted, and fairly brittle. Each actor remakes the doctor slightly, but if it's too big a remake it's like a rock band that totally changes their sound, losing some fans and not always picking up new ones.

It'll be interesting to see her depth and reach.

[Yavin4]

16. In Broadchurch, she played a mom whose son was murdered. n/t

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. Oh, there have already been floods of male tears on Twitter.

Lots of #notmydoctor, too. Hilarious.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Yet another Broadchurch-Doctor Who connection.

[MuseRider]

7. Outstanding!

After spending the last 2 weeks watching women take more than just a back seat at Wimbledon this is outstanding news. I don't know anything about her but just that they choose her means a great deal. Part of that backseat may have been ESPN but still, Wimbledon has its own equality problems.

[Revanchist]

8. Don't they mean the 14th Doctor?

What, no love for William Hurt as the War Doctor?

[JHB]

10. The War Doctor isn't "officially" in the numbering sequence...

...for various in-show and real-world reasons. Both threads of which have to do with his not being introduced until there had already been three doctors in the new series.

[pokerfan]

21. And the twelve regeneration limit?

If the War Doctor doesn't count, then #13 represents the final regeneration.

[Foamfollower]

22. Nope, Matt Smith's doctor was granted another regeneration cycle by the Time Lords.

And the War Doctor counts as a regeneration, too.

So technically, there can be 25 Doctors now, with this new Doctor being #14 in the total number of Doctors.

[pokerfan]

23. Convenient

[Foamfollower]

25. Yes, but he deserved it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. What JHB said - think of Hurt's as Doctor 8.5,

which is how he is often enumerated in lists of the Doctors.

[hunter]

11. As a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I think this is wonderful.

So does Billie Piper.

Link to tweet

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! I first encountered Dr. Who in 1980 and have been a fan since

and had hoped that the 12th Doctor would be female. Though disappointed, I thought Capaldi's version was fucking awesome, and I'm really sad he's leaving.

But if I have to accept he's leaving, I'm so happy we're getting a female!

And I had hoped that the female Master was maybe a trial run to see how the fans would react to a gender switch in characters and it went okay, that meant a female Doctor would be coming soon. Freaking brilliant!

Oh, me, Oh, my, I am soooooooo freaking excited!! This is the happiest news I've heard in a long time.

[hunter]

18. I was a teen living in Spain and then Britain...

... possibly because my parents were dodging the Vietnam War draft for me and my male siblings. Don't ask, don't tell.

I first experienced Doctor Who in black and white on a television that had a clunky 405/625 button.

Our family landed in Wales because we had to leave Spain in the middle of the night because my mom was a religiously insane pacifist and utterly incapable of withholding her own TRUTH. (Her dad was a Conscientious Objector in World War II, refused to take up arms. Imagine that...)

[Crunchy Frog]

19. I could have practically written this whole post myself.

Absolutely adore Capaldi, and Matt Smith before him, but soooo ready for a female incarnation of the Doctor.

[Dr. Strange]

20. Hey, Rabrrrrrr's in the house!

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. Howdy, good sir!

:wave:

I totally enjoyed your movie last year.

[Dr. Strange]

31. It was the sexy awesomesauce, yes.

[Gothmog]

14. I am looking forward to a female Doctor

[colsohlibgal]

15. Awesome !

What a nice surprise.

[susanna]

24. Looking forward to this Doctor. n/t

[alarimer]

26. Awesome if only because it pisses off all the right people.

But I like this choice anyway.

[PassingFair]

27. I predict she will bring the highest Dr. Who viewership evah!

About bloody time!

[Blue_Adept]

29. I thrive on the tears and whine of those upset about it

It's just delightful to see them in such anguish over something like this.