Jodie Whittaker on saying goodbye to Doctor Who: ‘I thought, what if I’ve ruined this for actresses?’

Jodie Whittaker made history in 2017 when she took over from Peter Capaldi and became the 13th Doctor in Doctor Who, making her the first woman to ever play the time-travelling alien with two hearts. She grew up near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and is, she says, “really emotional”, a trait she turned to good use in a series of harrowing parts, most famously in Broadchurch, where she played a grieving mother alongside David Tennant (himself the 10th Doctor). When the Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall took over as Doctor Who showrunner, he said that casting Whittaker was “a no-brainer”. Their first series came out in 2018, and this year Chibnall revealed that the two of them had a “three series and out” pact. In July, they announced they would be leaving the show after three specials, which will air in 2022, when Russell T Davies will return as showrunner and a new Doctor will take over from Whittaker. Her final full series of Doctor Who, subtitled Flux, ends on 5 December.

I’ve literally just got off the phone with Mandip [Gill, who