Welcome Aboard Jodie Whittaker!

Wow! They've only gone and done it! All change for the Doctor.

Welcome to the TARDIS Jodie!

Well isn't everything changing these days!?

Welcome to Jodie! :D

I'm not surprised...only because they tried it out with the Master & Missy was generally accepted as a new replacement. If Missy had bombed then I doubt we'd be seeing a female Doctor. I await to see the Christmas special (or more likely the new series) with hopeful optimism.

After having watched various clips of Whittaker on youtube I'm happy with this, would have preferred Olivia Colman or Phoebe Waller-Bridge but I'm relieved it's not another white male, I think the show needs shaking up a little and this is a great way to do it.

Ian Levine took it badly on Twitter.
Good luck to her. Not really seen her in anything and don't want to just yet. I'd like Doctor Who to be the first thing I see her in.
Very interested to see if she lasts three years for a start.
"Conwince me!"as they say in The Deadly Assassin!

It's a shame now that Missy seems to have been written out. I'd quite like to see a 13th Doctor vs Missy clash.

But maybe they'll re-cast the Master into another female?

18 months really is going to seem like too long to wait to see her in action.

Si.

Is it really 18 months? That will make it a January 2019 debut. Will there not even be a Christmas special in 2018? I was thinking a September start would have been ideal.

I was rounding up, sorry!

Filming starts: November 2017 so likely air date, a year away, Autumn 2018? Probably more like 16 months then!

We'll get a flash of her this Christmas of course, but I'm expecting no more than a glimpse at the end as Cappers changes.

Random thought - I wonder if the inclusion of the First Doctor in the Christmas Special is to further re-assure nervy fans that it's all "for real"? To have the original Doctor possibly there at the regeneration to "sanction" it?

Si.

Phew! I didn't want to wait that long.

Anyway, I can't say I'm surprised that a female has been cast. The way was paved when Missy was revealed to be the Master and we also saw a Timelord regenerate from a white male into a black Female in Hell Bent (I think it was). However, Jodie is a great choice and she looked fantastic in the reveal sequence. I loved what she was wearing but I doubt that will be her costume.

September 2018 can't come quick enough now. It will be Doctor Who as we have never seen it before.

I hope Capaldi's last words are along the lines of "I want to be a woman this time." I have a plausibility problem with random changing of the sex through regeneration. I can't see it as being plausible for either an inherent ability or a created one. Choosing to be female, even if there's no control over the appearance, that works for me.

The fact that they've picked a woman rather than a man seems to be the main story, rather than whether she's the best person for the part (regardless of whether they're male or female) It's a brave decision, but not a surprising one. Given the falling ratings they had to do something different to prevent the series falling into too deep a rut. I personally loved Capaldi, despite some poor stories along the way he's easily my favourite new series Doctor but it's clear that the public didn't take to him as much as his predecessors. Whether that was down to his age, the writing, or just a general feeling of it being more of the same old, same old, I don't know.

I've never seen Broadchurch or even heard of her until yesterday, so I can't comment on how good an actress Jodie Whittaker is...in that regard she's no different a prospect to me than David Tennant or Matt Smith were. I really won't be able to tell you whether I'm happy with her appointment or not until I've seen several episodes with her in the role and have something solid to base my opinion on. Which is exactly the same position I've been in with every Doctor since Tom Baker replaced Jon Pertwee. I'm more interested in good scripts and performances rather than gimmicks, and am keeping my fingers crossed that this isn't just an attention-grabbing gimmick. Which is where my scepticism sneaks in...

I think that there has been too much hysterical over-reaction on both sides though. Listening to some it's the death-knell for the series, but to others it's a fresh and exciting start. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the latter but have a sneaky feeling that this will just turn out to be a storm in a teacup and once the initial boost by curious viewers has passed, the series will revert to similar viewing figures as we've been seeing in recent years.

Let's just hope that Chibnall can produce some decent and memorable scripts for the series, and that Whittaker gives us a great performance, easily recognisable as the Doctor. That's all I'm asking for, it doesn't need to be perfect but if we get that I'll be happy. :)

Speaking to a few people at work who have drifted away from the show, they say it all became too complicated to follow. As a long time fan, even I didn't pick up on the haircut comment at the end of The Husbands of River Song. My daughter gave up a couple of years ago, yet still watches past series of modern Who on Netflix.

Jodie needs decent scripts to work with otherwise fandom will claim that ""Chibnall's little experiment has failed. Can we have a man again."

I think it felt inevitable this time - and if it had been 'just' another white man I think that, regardless of who they were, it would have been a stick to beat the show with as being "old hat". It feels quite exciting, I've seen Jodie W in Broadchurch, and although I don't quite see her playing the Doctor in anything like the same way, she was very good in it.

So, I think it's a bold decision by Chibnall, but the right one. A new showrunner and a new Doctor will help the show feel new again, which I always like, and although I can't quite work out why they've bothered to announce the new Doctor now when it's so long before she'll be on, it feels right.

I think it had just leaked, hence the rushed trailer/announcement. I knew it was Jody because she was on the front of a tabloid the day before. Now, although it's common for newspapers to incorrectly guess the next Doctor, it struck me that they would have to be pretty sure to announce it with such confidence the day before an official announcement, or risk looking very stupid... so it must have leaked at that point.

Si.