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Jodie Whittaker talks being the first female Doctor Who: 'Maybe this will open it up to some new young faces'

Jodie Whittaker will play the 13th Doctor in Doctor Who

jodie whittaker
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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Jodie Whittaker has opened up about becoming the first ever female Doctor on Doctor Who. Chatting onLorraine, the Broadchurch actress spoke about how it felt to be cast in the role, which has previously only ever been played by men. "It's really exciting," she said. "It's got a huge audience and a huge fan base and a loyal, wonderful fan base. Maybe this will open it up to maybe some new young faces that haven't necessarily been introduced to it yet. Because you forget that, if I'm the thirteenth, there's so much to watch and catch up on. It doesn't matter what age you come into it, you've got this wealth of amazing television to watch."

READ: Doctor Who: Will Kris Marshall be Jodie Whittaker's assistant?

jodie whittaker

Jodie opened up about the role

Jodie also spoke about keeping the iconic role as secret, and revealed that she became "melodramatic" while trying to keep it a secret. "I was just lying left right and centre. Talking to my agent and [showrunner] Chris Chibnall, obviously we were speaking a lot, I'd get so paranoid if my phone was on the table and his name would ping up and I'd be like well, people won't associate it with that as people know we're friends from Broadchurch. You just become a massive narcissist like, everything's about me… everyone is looking at me all the time. I think I was incredibly melodramatic the whole time. I talked like this [in a whisper] in my flat for months."

READ: BBC reveals how much new Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker will be paid

Peter Capaldi, who is currently starring as the Doctor, will bow out during the upcoming Christmas special. The first trailer for the episode has been released online which sees the return of Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and also features a guest appearance from Mark Gatiss, who plays a World War One solider called The Captain.