Jodie Whittaker: How Yorkshire schooling helped create the first female Doctor Who

“The teachers did their best,” she remembered from her time at St Aidan’s Church of England First School, in Skelmanthorpe. “I wasn’t really good at school, I always found it difficult to sit there and have someone talking at me, but at a very early age I knew I wanted to be an actress.

“I happily played on my own as a little girl but all my dolls and other toys were involved and had speaking parts. Games of pretend were my playground.”

Moving on to Scissett Middle School and then Shelley High School, she began to pick up roles in school productions which led to her enrolling on a performing arts BTEC course at Huddersfield Technical College (now part of Kirklees College) in 1999.

The primary school dreamer had now become a highly focused student, motivated by studying a subject she loved and encouraged by staff who could clearly see her potential.

“Jodie was determined to learn her craft, she was one of the most focused and dedicated students I’ve ever taught,” recalled one of her lecturers, Gloria Appleton.

“She was part of a very strong group of students and she spent two years here learning the basics of what it means to be a performer.”

Jodie’s enthusiasm extended to those parts of the curriculum where she was less of a ‘natural’ than in acting, as another of her tutors, Maureen Nowodny, remembered.

“She wanted to be the best she could be. Dancing wasn’t her favourite thing – that was acting – but she threw her heart into it nonetheless.”

After a gap year, she won a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, from where she graduated in 2005 with a gold medal for acting – the same year as she made her professional debut in The Storm at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Since then, her CV has filled up with a wide variety of stage, TV and film appearances, with her role as Beth Latimer in Broadchurch being perhaps her best known before the Doctor Who producer’s call.

From Broadchurch via the outer reaches of time and space, Jodie happily acknowledges the part her upbringing and early school days played in setting her off on her successful career path.

“I think it is especially nice because I can go back to my roots and just be me, the same Jodie who grew up there. My parents grew up there, too, as we go back quite a way.

“I went to the local school, St Aidan’s Academy, and Skelmanthorpe really did give me a great start in life.”

Timeline of Jodie Whittaker’s career

1982: Born on June 17 to Adrian and Yvonne Whittaker in Skelmanthorpe, near Huddersfield.

1994: Attends Shelley High School after initial education at local primary schools.

1999: Enrols on BTEC performance course at Huddersfield Technical College.

2002: Gains place at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

2005: Graduates with gold medal for acting.

2005: Makes professional debut at Shakespeare’s Globe.

2006: First major role as Jessie in film Venus, receiving two award nominations.

2007: Stands in for Carey Mulligan in Royal Court production of The Seagull.

2010–12: Appears as Emma Croft in Jimmy McGovern’s series Accused.

2013–17: Plays Beth Latimer in Broadchurch.

2017–22: Becomes first female Doctor Who, appearing in three series and three one-off episodes.

2023: Filming upcoming Australian TV series One Night and the BBC series Time.