Prior to being unveiled as the first woman ever to play Doctor Who’s title character, Jodie Whittaker was most widely known for her starring role as the mother of murdered Danny Latimer in Broadchurch.
Already a recognisable face to millions of TV fans, the Yorkshire-born actress is now a household name thanks to her historical casting in the sci-fi series.
Adept at performing as a wide-ranging number of characters, the 36-year-old has portrayed Anne Hathaway’s best friend in One Day, an abused lover in the time-travel film A Thousand Kisses Deep and as Rupert Everett’s dappy blonde secretary in both St Trinian’s films.
Born in June 1982 in the village of Skelmanthorpe in Huddersfield, Whittaker dreamed of becoming an actress as a teenager.
After leaving school at 16, she completed a Btec in performing arts before attending Guildhall School of Music and Drama – where she was joined by actresses Hayley Atwell and Michelle Dockery.
She also met her husband, American actor Christian Contreras, at Guildhall. They married in 2008 and welcomed their first child in 2015.
A keen footballer and squash player as a youngster, Whittaker is a huge cricket fan and her father was formerly president of Huddersfield Cricket League.
She left drama school in 2005 for a part in Storm at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, and subsequently won her first film role in Venus (2006) alongside Peter O’Toole.
She starred in St Trinian’s with close friend Gemma Arterton and in comedy horror film Attack The Block and in Good alongside Lord Of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen, among other big-screen roles.
On TV, Whittaker had a leading role in an episode of the first series of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror in 2011 and in supernatural period drama Marchlands before landing the role of Beth Latimer in Broadchurch.
Last year she also took on the lead role in BBC media drama Trust Me, as a nurse pretending to be a doctor, and had a major role in Paddy Considine’s boxing film Journeyman.
Not one to flaunt her fame, Whittaker previously shared her happiness of having a “chameleon face” as it means she was rarely recognised in the street.
However after taking on one of TV’s biggest roles, the 13th incarnation of the Time Lord, that has already changed before the show has begun.
Doctor Who airs at 6.45pm on Sunday October 7 on BBC One.
