Few TV casting announcements can have been as long awaited as the name of the new Doctor Who and when the revelation finally came it sent social media into a frenzy.

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world joined the debate about the news that Jodie Whittaker is to star as the first female Time Lord.

The social reaction was as varied as the hashtags used to share them which included Doctor Who, Dr Who, #doctor13 and #jodiewhittaker.

While some people talked about the great role model the new Doctor would be for girls and women, others wondered why it had taken so long and some were firmly in the camp that the Doctor was only ever meant to be male.

People with young girls in their families appeared to be delighted at the announcement including David Owens who wrote: “My 8-year-old daughter pumped her fist and shouted “yes!” when the new @bbcdoctorwho was revealed. Think that tells you all you need to know.”

Simon Tucker responded saying: It’s great mate. My nieces can grow up in a world with a good Wonder Woman, a female Jedi, female ghostbusters & a female Dr Who.”

And @BlackRyu82 wrote: “My youngest daughter loves new Ghostbusters. We watched it together almost daily at one point. Super excited to watch Dr Who with her!”

One user applauded the move saying; “The lack of women, and lead women, in sci fi is embarrassing. Doctor Who just made a step in the right direction“.

And the casting milestone made some people feel quite emotional like Carla Joanne who tweeted: “Wow. I don’t even watch #DrWho & this made me choke up a little. I will def be tuning in“.

Giving Jodie Whittaker the lead role could pull in more new viewers including @Laidback_Blake who wrote: “Ooh a lady Dr. Who this time. I may have to watch this season.”

The news was greeted in an apparently tongue-in-cheek way by some including @plewis16 who tweeted: “A woman as Dr Who ? I can’t believe it – outrageous. Send for the Daleks! And change the locks on all police boxes. What would Hartnell say?”

But not everyone was happy. On Facebook Nicki Murphy wrote: “I like Jodi, I think she is a terrific actor but I’m sorry, this is an exercise in pleasing the PC brigade. How about writing some new, quality roles for females… this is an attempt to meet some quota!!!”

And a female Doctor was all too much for life-long fan Wendy Roberts who posted: “No disrespect to the actress chosen but the producers have brought my Dr Who history and memories to an abrupt end.”

Si Stringer took a more nuanced view of the Facebook discussion posting simply: “People who accept a shape-shifting, time-travelling immortal character unable to accept female lead in a television show.”

The conversation will no doubt not end here but as one Twitter user pointed out, whatever your view about a female Doctor, one thing is for certain: “The world hasn’t ended.”