Jodie Whittaker
On 16 July 2017, Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor in the science fiction television series "Doctor Who"; she is the first woman to play the title role. She had previously worked with incoming "Doctor Who" showrunner Chris Chibnall on "Broadchurch". She admitted that she had to "tell a lot of lies" after being cast to keep the information secret and used the codeword "Clooney" when talking about the role. She urged fans not to be afraid of her gender, saying ""Doctor Who" represents everything that's exciting about change. The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one." Chibnall said that he always wanted a woman for the part and that Whittaker was their first choice.
Doctor Who (series 2)
Following the success of the opening episode of the first series, the BBC announced that "Doctor Who" had been recommissioned for both a second series and a Christmas special on 30 March 2005. Recording for the Christmas special began on 23 July 2005, with production on the series itself beginning on 1 August 2005 and concluding on 31 March 2006.
New writers for the show included Toby Whithouse, creator of the Channel 4 drama "No Angels", Tom MacRae, creator of Sky One's "Mile High", Matt Jones, also a prolific script editor and producer, and Matthew Graham, co-creator of the BBC science fiction series "Life on Mars". Previous writers Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies all contributed to the series, with Davies continuing to act as head writer and executive producer. Stephen Fry was due to write episode 11 but was forced to withdraw as he could not complete the script in time so Russell T. Davies hired Matthew Graham to write Fear Her. Phil Collinson produced all episodes, with Julie Gardner as executive producer. The series was directed by James Hawes, Euros Lyn, James Strong, Dan Zeff and Graeme Harper, who had directed episodes of the programme's original run. The series is primarily set on Earth (though not as much as the first series was) due to the cost involved in creating another planet, according to Davies. Only two stories are set on another planet.