Jodie Whittaker had ‘months’ of auditions to land ‘Doctor Who’ role

The actor is the first woman to play the Doctor in the show's history

Jodie Whittaker has revealed she went through “months” of auditions before she landed her Doctor Who role.

The actor was announced as the first woman to play the iconic part of the Doctor in the long-running BBC series last year.

In the latest issue of the Doctor Who magazine, Whittaker spoke about her experience of getting the part and the first scene she filmed for the show. Explaining that her first day on set wasn’t the first time showrunner Chris Chibnall had seen her play the Doctor, she said: “I mean, it was the first time he’d seen me as the Doctor in costume, on the set, but we’d rehearsed, and before that I’d been through a few months of auditions.”

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She added that Chibnall had told her to trust her instincts in playing the part, quoting him as saying, “They’ve been right so far, and they’ve got you here today. Just remember that.”

Whittaker also explained that she thought her being announced as the new Doctor happened the day before she filmed the regeneration scene so no one would spot her arriving on set and leak the news.

“If I’d been seen in Cardiff, being taken to Roath Lock, it would have been very obvious that I was playing the part,” she said. “So they announced it the day before.”

Last year, previous Doctor Peter Capaldi responded to a nine-year-old fan who was concerned about the then-impending regeneration.

“Even though [regeneration] can be a little bit icky (like really bad flu), it has always, always turned out good for Dr. Who,” Capaldi reassured the boy.

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Doctor Who is set to return to BBC One for its 11th series later this year.

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