‘Doctor Who’ Producers Avoided Spoilers by Pretending the New Doctor Was a Man

As with any major announcement, Jodie Whittaker being named the 13th Doctor was a closely guarded secret. So much so, in fact, that higher-ups at BBC braced themselves for spoilers by pretending that the new star of “Doctor Who” was going to be another man — an effort that included using a male body in the visuals presented to their visual-effects house for storyboards of the scene in which the Doctor regenerates.

“The BBC actually had us quote her first scene before we knew it was gonna be Jodie, via storyboards,” Louise Hastings said, according to Radio Times. “And the storyboards had been drawn with a man as the Doctor, so that was a bit of a surprise! I was looking through a list of the favorites to be the Doctor and comparing them to the pictures, but I was wrong, I couldn’t figure it out. They threw us off the scent.”

Whittaker made her official debut as the 13th Doctor during “Twice Upon a Time,” last year’s Christmas special. She’s best known for her appearances in “Broadchurch,” “Attack the Block,” and the “Black Mirror” episode “The Entire History of You.” Her predecessor Peter Capaldi’s tenure began when he took over for Matt Smith in 2017.