Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad
- Publication: The Mail on Sunday
- Date: 2017-08-20
- Author: Janine Yaqoob
- Page: 33
- Language: English
TIME LORD JODIE KEPT DREAM ROLE SECRET
Actress used codeword for agent talks
New Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker kept her new job such a secret that she didn't even tell her dad.
The Broadchurch actress thought he might accidentally blab to pals that she had become the first female to play the Time Lord in the show's 54-year history
Jodie said: "My dad was furious. But good news is difficult to keep secret. You wanna go, 'Have you heard the news?' But you don't know how wildfire it would go."
The only people she told before the BBC's big reveal - after the men's singles final at Wimbledon - were her mum Yvonne and actor husband Christian Contreras. Jodie, 35, made her screen debut in Venus in 2005.
She has appeared in Attack the Block, St Trinian's and current BBC drama Trust Me. It was her role as victim's mum Beth Latimer in Broadchurch - where writer Chris Chibnall ensured not even the cast knew which of them was the killer - that led to her playing the Doctor and helped her keep the secret.
When Chris was appointed executive producer of Doctor Who, they talked on the phone.
Jodie said: "I was like, 'Are you excited about your new job?'
And then it was a conversation of, 'This is a direction I want it to go in' - as in female - 'would you consider auditioning?' "
Jodie took secrecy so seriously she even used a codeword - "The Clooney" - when talking to her agent. She added: "It was a full military operation.
"I basically whispered for three months and it was tedious even in my own kitchen."
Caption: TRAILER Jodie's big reveal
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- APA 6th ed.: Yaqoob, Janine (2017-08-20). Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad. The Mail on Sunday p. 33.
- MLA 7th ed.: Yaqoob, Janine. "Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad." The Mail on Sunday [add city] 2017-08-20, 33. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Yaqoob, Janine. "Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad." The Mail on Sunday, edition, sec., 2017-08-20
- Turabian: Yaqoob, Janine. "Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad." The Mail on Sunday, 2017-08-20, section, 33 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who_knew_I_was_the_new_Doctor%3F_Not_even_my_dad | work=The Mail on Sunday | pages=33 | date=2017-08-20 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Who knew I was the new Doctor? Not even my dad | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Who_knew_I_was_the_new_Doctor%3F_Not_even_my_dad | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 March 2025}}</ref>
