Jodie Whittaker, the first ever female Doctor Who, appeared at Comic Con in San Diego on Thursday (20 July) – the first time she has appeared in public representing the beloved sci-fi series.

Speaking on a panel in front of 6,000 pop culture super-fans, Whittaker said that the time was right for a woman to take control of the Tardis. “It’s 2018. It’s the direction that [the show] was always going to go in,” she said.

However, she emphasised that her gender would not significantly influence how she chose to embody the character of the Doctor. “The thing about this role, which is why it is so amazing for any actor to play the role, is that essentially gender is irrelevant, and that’s completely liberating,” she said.

“As a woman who is into a genre, and as just a woman, I’ve never approached a role as ‘Well, how would a woman do this?’ I’ve just done it from my perspective. The wonderful thing about playing the Doctor is that I’m playing an alien. So all those roles are irrelevant to the approach.”

In another interview published this week, Whittaker said she hoped to show girls that they could be the star of their own story. “Being the first female Doctor and showing children that their heroes in shows don’t always look the same is a huge honour for me,” she said.

Watch the first trailer for the new series of Doctor Who here.

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