Actress Jodie Whittaker has been announced as the 13th Time Lord in the Doctor Who series and the first woman in the role.

Whittaker succeeds Peter Capaldi, who started in the role in 2013. She currently plays Beth Latimer on British crime drama Broadchurch.

Chris Chibnall, the creator of Broadchurch. is the new Doctor Who showrunner, with Steven Moffat departing.

Whittaker told the BBC it is "overwhelming, as a feminist" to be the next Doctor. She’ll make her debut in the Doctor Who Christmas special, when Capaldi departs.

Doctor Who has existed for 36 seasons on the BBC, starting in 1963, with 12 men playing the Doctor over the years.

The trailer for the new season shows Whittaker pulling back the hood of her sweatshirt, smiling and stepping towards the Tardis, a spaceship that resembles a British police telephone booth. (Tardis is short for Time and Relative Dimension in Space.)

“It’s more than an honor to play the Doctor,” Whittaker said in a statement. “It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for: hope.”