Jodie Whittaker was on Sunday night named as the first female lead in Doctor Who, becoming the 13th Doctor and marking a step forward for equality in television.
The BBC confirmed the Broadchurch and Attack The Block star would succeed Peter Capaldi, with 35-year-old Whittaker being chosen ahead of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Kris Marshall, who had been the favourites with the bookmakers until the 11th hour.
“It’s more than an honour to play the Doctor,” Whittaker told the BBC. “It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for: hope. I can’t wait.”
But it was Whittaker’s gender that was sending some quarters of the internet into meltdown.
Not that there was much sympathy for the group of overwhelmingly male critics who were swiftly labelled “man babies”.
Whittaker seems to have pre-empted the criticism, and urged fans “not to be scared”.
And for those in doubt about its significance, you’d do well to watch the reaction from this young fan.
Whittaker’s sex wasn’t the only aspect of her background to be seized on by Twitter.
Plus, there was a political dimension to the appointment ...
... after Chancellor Phillip Hammond reportedly quipped that driving trains had now been made so easy that “even a woman” could do it.