Just over a week ago The BBC announced the new Doctor Who. Jodie Whittaker, whose turns in Black Mirror and Broadchurch (as well as the wonderful 2017 film Adult Life Skills) attest, is more than capable of taking the iconic sci-fi character to new places. She will appear in the final moments of the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special – entitled Twice Upon a Time. The first trailer for this final episode for the Twelfth Doctor has arrived, with one or two familiar faces.

At this weekend’s San Diego Comic Con the outgoing Doctor, Peter Capaldi, spoke about his replacement and gave the following statement of encouragement,

“I think Jodie is going to be amazing. I spoke to her the other day and she’s so full of excitement and passion about the show. It’s thrilling to know it’s in the hands of someone who cares for it deeply and is so excited about it. So she’s a great choice for it.”

Take a look below at the scenes in San Diego when Calapdi and Steven Moffat took to the stage.

Following up on Capaldi’s words on the future Doctor, showrunner Moffat spoke to the controversial reaction to the casting of a female Time Lord.

“There has been so many press articles about a backlash among the Doctor Who fandom about casting a female Doctor. There has been no backlash at all. The story of the moment is that the notionally conservative Doctor Who fandom has utterly embraced that change completely.

“Eighty-percent approval on social media, not that I check these things obsessively. So many people wanting to pretend there is a problem. There isn’t. It’s been incredibly progressive and enlightened and that’s what really happened. I wish every other journalist who is writing the alternative would shut the hell up.”

Quite.

Here’s to the future of time and space, and our hopes are that Chris Chibnall and his team find new ways to explore the mystery of The Doctor with Jodie Whittaker being served well in the new series.

Twice Upon a Time, the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special, will air on Christmas Day on BBC One.