The BBC TV series Doctor Who is to have its first black Doctor.

There’s never been a black actor playing the iconic role in the show’s 57 year history.

But fans of the long running sci-fi show caught a glimpse of the new  Doctor, played by Jo Martin, in an episode screened last Sunday (January 26) called Fugitive of the Judoon.

TWIST

In a big twist, the latest episode saw the current Doctor – played by Jodie Whittaker- coming into contact with a woman called Ruth Clayton.

But, as it turns out, she was not just any woman but a never-seen-before regeneration of the Doctor.

Martin’s character is first introduced as a tour guide in Gloucester, England.

But later it is revealed that the Doctor’s famous Tardis is found buried under Clayton’s childhood home.

“You’re in my future, not the other way around,” Clayton says to Whittaker’s Doctor character when they meet face to face.

APPRECIATION

It is not yet known how the storyline will develop or why the two Doctors do not recognize each other.

However fans of the show flocked to social media to show their appreciation.

One tweeted: “Thank you for finally giving a Black nerd and other black nerdy adults and kids a Doctor who looks like us. You really don’t know how monumental this was and how much it made me cry. Please don’t let her be the only one ever.”

“Jo Martin as the Doctor!!,” another fan tweeted. “Which incarnation exactly remains to be seen, and if she’s even a canonical Doctor at all. All we know is she’s the first black Doctor and in mere minutes she has owned the part!”