Jodie Auckland Whittaker (born 17 June 1982 in Skelmanthorpe, England) is an English actress from Yorkshire note known for her tenure as the Thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who, as well as for work in movies such as Venus, St Trinians, Adult Life Skills, Good and Attack the Block, as well as the series Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Wired, Return to Cranford, Marchlands, Black Mirror, Broadchurch and The Assets.
On July 16, 2017, Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor, succeeding Peter Capaldi, making her the first woman to officially take the role after 54 years.note Humorously enough, she costarred in productions with not one but two fellow Doctors before she finally joined their ranks — playing the title character in a 2012 production of Antigone alongside Christopher Eccleston as Creon, and with David Tennant in Broadchurch. note
Like previous Doctor Matt Smith, she grew up during the hiatus between the classic and modern Who series and so wasn't very familiar with the show, only having seen a few episodes. She got inspired to audition when after Broadchurch ended she asked Chris Chibnall if she could play a villain on the show, and he informed her he was actually looking to cast a female Doctor. Upon reading the scripts, she quickly fell in love with the part and especially took to the reams of Techno Babble involved, greatly helping with Thirteen being more of a Gadgeteer Genius than any previous version.
She just barely edges out Sylvester McCoy, by a centimeter, as the shortest actor (5'6") to play The Doctor. In July 2021, she confirmed that she would be leaving the role in 2022
, and departed the show in "The Power of the Doctor".
Her film roles:
- Venus (2006) as Jessie
- St Trinians (2007) as Beverly
- Wish 143 (2009) as Maggie
- Perrier's Bounty (2009) as Brenda
- Attack the Block (2011) as Samantha Adams
- A Thousand Kisses Deep (2011) as Mia Selva
- One Day (2011) as Tilly
- Get Santa (2014) as Alison
- Adult Life Skills (2016) as Anna
- Journeyman (2018) as Emma Burton
Her TV roles:
- Return to Cranford (2009) as Peggy Bell
- Black Mirror (2011; episode "Black Mirror: The Entire History of You") as Ffion
- Broadchurch (2013-2017) as Beth Latimer
- The Assets (2014) as Sandra Grimes
- The Smoke (2014) as Trish Tooley
- Trust Me (2017) as Cath Hardacre
- Doctor Who (2017-2022) as the Thirteenth Doctor
Tropes relating to her career:
- Awesome, Dear Boy: She has said that playing the Doctor was her dream role.
- Dyeing for Your Art: Naturally a brunette, she goes blonde as the Doctor (as Peter Davison had done before her) and as Beverly from the St. Trinian's series.
- She Also Did: Many Doctor Who fans who only knew her from that show were shocked to discover that she'd done nude scenes in her first film role, Venus.
- Star-Making Role: Beth Latimer in Broadchurch, and the Thirteenth Doctor in Doctor Who.
- What Could Have Been: Prior to being asked to audition for the Thirteenth Doctor, she asked Chris Chibnall if she could play a baddie when he took over as Doctor Who's showrunner.
