Whittaker's incarnation is a light-hearted adventurer with a passion for building things, placing a high value on friendships and striving for non-violent solutions.

This incarnation's first companions were the trio of dyspraxic part-time warehouse worker Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), his step-grandfather and retired bus driver Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), and probationary police officer Yasmin "Yaz" Khan (Mandip Gill), all of whom she met shortly after her regeneration; after splitting up with the first two, she travels with Yaz and food bank volunteer Dan Lewis (John Bishop).

She also had one-episode reunions with former companions Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding), and Ace (Sophie Aldred).

[18] The most notable Time Lord to have appeared in both male and female forms prior to Whittaker's casting is the Doctor's nemesis, the Master, portrayed from 2014 to 2017 by Scottish actress, Michelle Gomez.

[20] Two years prior to the announcement of Whittaker's casting, fans and scholars discussed the possibility of a female Doctor and analysed the benefits of such a regeneration.

Whittaker was introduced as the Thirteenth Doctor on 16 July and subsequently made her debut in the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time" and starring in the eleventh series.

Later on in his statement, Chibnall called Whittaker "an in-demand, funny, inspiring, super-smart force of nature" and said that she "will bring loads of wit, strength and warmth to the role.

The photograph had been published in a 1988 issue of Sassy showing a number of female models in men's clothing, with the specific photo of a woman in trousers, braces and a T-shirt, walking with a purpose.

[2] After regenerating, The Doctor falls out of the TARDIS and, in series premiere "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" (2018), lands in modern-day Sheffield, where she befriends retired bus driver Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), his wife's grandson Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), and police officer Yasmin "Yaz" Khan (Mandip Gill), with whom she successfully repels an alien hunter from the warlike Stenza race.

Subsequent trips include visiting Yaz's grandmother in 1947; witnessing the partition of India in "Demons of the Punjab"; preventing a plan to kill millions galaxy-wide as part of a labour protest, in "Kerblam!

In "Spyfall" (2020), the Doctor faces off against the regenerated Master (Sacha Dhawan), who reveals that he has destroyed their home planet of Gallifrey in revenge for the Time Lords having lied to them about their species' origins, concerning a story of the "Timeless Child".

In "Fugitive of the Judoon", the Doctor learns her former companion Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) has sent her a warning – "Do not give the Lone Cyberman what it wants" – just as she was encountering a past incarnation of herself (played by Jo Martin), that she has no recollection of being.

The Doctor and her friends pursue the Lone Cyberman to the future and the aftermath of the Cyber-Wars in "Ascension of the Cybermen", where he has set in motion a plan to rebuild the Cyber-Empire and wipe out all life in the universe.

As the last fragments of humanity face destruction at the hands of the Cybermen, the Doctor is pulled through a portal to Gallifrey by the Master in "The Timeless Children", where she learns of a radical cover-up of her origins: she is in fact the Timeless Child, an orphan from an unknown world whose unique power to regenerate was studied and replicated by her adopted mother, whose people used it to build the Time Lord empire.

At the same time, the Flux, a cosmic event that has the power to destroy entire galaxies, rips through the universe, and Sontarans, Daleks, Cybermen, and Weeping Angels begin amassing.

[46] In July 2024, Big Finish Productions announced that Whittaker would reprise her role as the Doctor for a series of audio dramas, alongside Gill returning as Yaz.

[49][50][51] During the Doctor Who panel at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat denied there had been a "backlash" over Whittaker's casting, and said there was "80% approval on social media".

"[52] Guardian journalist Zoe Williams described Whittaker's casting as "the revolutionary feminist we need right now", lauding the decision as "the difference between tolerating modernity and embodying it".

"[49] In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Baker wrote that he had "never been able to think of any logical reason" why the Doctor could not be a woman, and described himself as "shocked" that some fans of the show were vowing not to watch again due to Whittaker's casting.

"[57] Freema Agyeman, who played Martha Jones between 2007 and 2010, said she was "astounded" by the negative reception from some fans, noting that the show's history of change was key to its strength and longevity.

[56] Other former cast members Christopher Eccleston,[58] Sylvester McCoy, Katy Manning,[57] David Tennant, Billie Piper, Karen Gillan and John Barrowman reacted positively to the news.

Ed Power of The Independent applauded her introduction in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", commenting "Whittaker is a force of breezy nature – rambunctious, quirky but with a reassuring familiar aura of Gallifreyan uncanniness."

[61] Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph commented "Whittaker is a breath of fresh air: a talented, emotionally engaged actress who brings warmth and humanity to a show that was largely in danger of disappearing up its own black hole.

"[62] After watching the first five episodes of the eleventh series, Radio Times Flora Carr commented: "She's channelled the best elements of recent Doctors (Matt Smith's whimsy, David Tennant's frenetic energy, Peter Capaldi's wry humour...), but above all, she's made the role her own."

Mark Braxton also said, "Jodie's Doctor is a whirlwind of likeability and energy, a tour de force that has relaunched the show with panache.

[26] Both Bleeding Cool's Adi Tantimedh and The Escapist's Darren Mooney criticised the Thirteen Doctor for doing little to combat social and political injustices as if "afraid of challenging the status quo".

[65][66] Other aspects of Whittaker's tenure have been considered divisive, with praise for the series' improved production values, but criticism for the scripts, characterisation, and the additions to previously established lore concerning the Doctor's origins in the episode "The Timeless Children".