But in the run-up to the announcement there was also much discussion about the possibility of the show casting its first non-white Doctor, with Sacha Dhawan rumoured to be one of the frontrunners.
Dhawan, who had a major role in the most recent series of Sherlock, and also fronted co-creator and sometime Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss's MR James ghost story The Tractate Middoth, has always been very enthusiastic about being associated with the part of the Doctor – but he has now admitted that he did not get as far as auditioning for it.
"I never auditioned for Doctor Who," revealed Dhawan, speaking at the London Film and Comic Con. "I think because I'm associated with Sherlock and the Doctor Who world someone must have thrown my name in the hat. It was really nice, Mark Gatiss messaged me 'I've just seen this on Twitter', to the point where I was calling my agent saying 'have I got an audition for this?' No."
Dhawan is remaining upbeat about one day landing the role though, and is already considering the prospect of being Whittaker's successor, adding "hopefully when Jodie finishes, I'll get considered."
In the meantime, he's very pleased about her land-mark casting – even if he does have one regret...
"I'm really happy, it's great. I always said it would be nice to have a female Doctor and also I know Jodie as well and she's just fantastic and perfect for it.
"I'm actually gutted because before they made the announcement I heard it was gonna be Jodie and when she was announced I was 'damn, I should've put a bet on!'"
Sacha Dhawan was speaking on a panel at the London Film and Comic Con
Via Radio Times by Paul Jones
