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.
Chris Chibnall
In January 2016, the BBC announced that Chibnall would replace Steven Moffat as executive producer of "Doctor Who" and would be the head writer and executive producer of his first series in 2018. The series will be the eleventh in the revived serial. Matt Strevens is set to be an executive producer alongside Chibnall, after having also been an executive producer for "An Adventure in Space and Time". When discussing whether the new Doctor would be a woman, he was originally quoted in February 2017, as saying "Nothing is ruled out but I don't want the casting to be a gimmick and that's all I can say”. After the announcement in July 2017, Chibnall said, " ...welcome Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number one choice."