Incoming Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker has been speaking about her hopes for the BBC sci-fi series, with the actress apparently keeping her fingers crossed that her casting as the first female Doctor will attract a new audience to the show.

“It’s got a huge audience, and a huge fanbase, and a loyal, wonderful fanbase,” Whittaker told Christine Bleakley on ITV’s Lorraine.

“But you know, maybe this will open it up to maybe some new young faces who haven’t necessarily been introduced to it yet.

“Cos what you forget is, we’re so lucky – if I’m the Thirteenth [Doctor] there’s so much to watch and catch up on, that it doesn’t matter what age you come into it. You’ve got this wealth of amazing television to watch.”

And that legacy is something that Whittaker clearly takes very seriously, recounting once again how she cried when she got the role and generally emphasising her emotional connection to the series.

“You can’t get a job like this and not get knocked sideways by it. You should be!”

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this Christmas