Jodie Whittaker takes on first new TV role after Doctor Who
Former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker has been announced in her first leading role since leaving the BBC science fiction series.
Whittaker, who starred as the Thirteenth Doctor between 2017 and 2022, was the first woman to take on the regular lead role in the series and starred in three seasons of the popular show before departing in a spectacular feature-length special, The Power of the Doctor, in October 2022.
The 40-year-old actor will star in a new drama series on Paramount Plus called One Night.
The show tells the story of Simone (Nicole da Silva), Hat (Yael Stone) and Tess (Whittaker) who were once close friends but their bond was destroyed by a traumatic event that happened 20 years earlier when they were younger.
However, when it appears that Simone – now and author – is cashing in on something that happened in their shared history by writing a book, the three are brought back together to reassess what happened on that one night.
The official synopsis for the show reads: “As it becomes harder to prise fact from fiction, one person’s memory and story from another’s, the book threatens to derail all their friendships, bringing old traumas to the surface of the small coastal community where they grew up, and stirring its perpetrators, who want to make it all go away.”
The programme is being filmed in Australia in multiple locations.
Sophia Mogford, executive producer of drama and comedy at Paramount ANZ commented on the commission: “One Night is a fantastic drama, and such a timely, yet timeless story set against the dramatic backdrop of the New South Wales coastline, and brought to life by a great cast of international and local actors.
“It’s a production we are thrilled to be able to champion.”
No release date has been given for the six-part drama.
Doctor Who returns in November 2023 with three one-hour specials written by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. This will be followed by Doctor Who season 14 starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as his companion Ruby Sunday.
In addition to the TV show celebrations, Big Finish Productions is releasing an audio adventure called Once and Future that will star multiple incarnations of the Doctor as well as returning stars such as Georgia Tennant as Jenny, the Doctor’s daughter.
The episodes in 2023 will be the first as part of a partnership between Disney and the BBC to make Disney+ the international home of Doctor Who.
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