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.
History of Doctor Who
A second full series of 13 episodes was commissioned for 2011, with Smith and Gillan both returning as the Doctor and Amy respectively (making it the first time since the show's relaunch in 2005 that both the Doctor and main companion had remained the same from one series to the next). The series was broadcast in two halves, with the first seven episodes broadcast between April and June 2011, and the final six beginning on 27 August 2011. With the new series, Darvill was upgraded to series regular and full-time companion as Rory, and Kingston continued to appear on a recurring basis as River Song.
Due partly to budget restrictions at the BBC, the expected 2012 series, Smith's third, was split into 5 episodes transmitted from September 2012 and a further 8 transmitted from April 2013, with the now traditional Christmas special between these 2 groups of episodes. The advent of the show's 50th anniversary in November 2013 meant that instead of starting to film an 8th series, the BBC started work on a feature-length special, to be transmitted on 23 November 2013, the precise date of the show's 50th anniversary. As well as being made in 3D for presentation at selected cinemas, the episode was also announced to be co-starring David Tennant and Billie Piper, reprising their roles of the Tenth Doctor and Rose, though ultimately Billie Piper played The Moment, a Gallifreyan Weapon that took the form of Rose.