When Jodie Whittaker was announced as the first ever female Doctor, the reaction was unfortunately mixed. For every person who was delighted to see the long-running sci-fi show diversify, there was another bitterly moaning about “political correctness.

Whittaker became the first woman to play the main Doctor when she joined the beloved BBC show in 2017. In a recent interview, she shared how she was under significant pressure after taking on the role and felt that her performance could impact other women breaking grounds in acting roles.

In Toxic Town – which also stars Aimee Lou Wood, Robert Carlyle and Rory Kinnear – Whittaker plays real-life campaigner Susan McIntyre, who led the fight to bring the Corby toxic waste case in front of a court.

Former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker has opened up about the backlash to her casting as the 13th Doctor. The actress made TV history in 2017 when she became the first woman to play The Doctor. While many Doctor Who fans and all of Whittaker's successors were publicly supportive,

Jodie Whittaker recalls a ‘really loud rage’ from a ‘noisy few’ when it was announced that she would be the 13th Doctor - Nathan Denette/Canadian Press