Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who
Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor. BBC

Doctor Who fans rejoice. The BBC has revealed the Doctor's new look ahead of Jodie Whittaker taking over the iconic sci-fi role as the first woman to play the character. Wearing a long coat, big trousers and braces, it's our first look at her incarnation of the Time Lord, now Time Lady's costume.

Whittaker was announced to be the latest actor to play the time-travelling adventurer back in July, and will take over from Peter Capaldi when his twelfth doctor regenerates in the upcoming Christmas special.

Doctor Who's next series is set to air in late 2018. In October the BBC announced the season regulars who will travel time and space with the new Doctor.

They are Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole and Sharon D Clarke.

Whittaker described the cast as a "dream team".

At the time of the initial announcement, the 35-year-old said: "I'm beyond excited to begin this epic journey – with Chris Chibnall and with every Whovian on this planet.

"It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for – hope. I can't wait."

Addressing the historic nature of her casting, she added: "As a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender. Because this is a really exciting time and Doctor Who represents everything that's exciting about change. This is only a new, different one, not a fearful one.

"I'm most excited about becoming part of a family I didn't even know existed. I was born in 1982 and Doctor Who has been around longer than me and it's a family I couldn't ever have dreamed I'd be a part of."

The upcoming Christmas special also marks the end of Steven Moffat's eight year stint as showrunner. In his place steps Chris Chibnall, who worked with Whittaker on hit ITV drama Broadchurch.

As well as Broadchurch, Whittaker is known for cult sci-fi film Attack the Block, Black Mirror episode The Entire History of You and more recently BBC drama Trust Me in which she, somewhat ironically, plays a character pretending to be a doctor.

Revealing the costume now could be an indication that filming is set to begin shortly on the new series, with the BBC negating the possibility that sneaky set photos reveal Whittaker's look unofficially.