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.
List of awards and nominations received by Doctor Who
It has been nominated for a variety of different awards including 29 BAFTA TV Awards (eight wins for the series), 28 Hugo Awards (6 wins), 18 Saturn Awards (3 wins), 24 National Television Awards (16 wins), 5 Writer's Guild of Great Britain Awards (two wins), and a total of 23 awards from BBC itself (14 wins). Amongst the wins for the series are a BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series, the most prestigious award for British television series; it was the very first (and to date only) science fiction work to win. Matt Smith became the first "Doctor Who" actor to earn a BAFTA TV nomination in 2011, receiving a Best Actor nomination for his role as the Eleventh Doctor, while Michelle Gomez became the first BAFTA TV-nominated "Doctor Who" actress in 2016 for her supporting role as Missy.