GO:0021702

The process in which neuroblasts acquire specialized structural and/or functional features that characterize the mature cerebellar Purkinje cell. Differentiation includes the processes involved in commitment of a neuroblast to a Purkinje cell fate. A Purkinje cell is an inhibitory GABAergic neuron found in the cerebellar cortex that projects to the deep cerebellar nuclei and brain stem. [GO_REF:0000021, GOC:cls, GOC:dgh, GOC:dph, GOC:jid, GOC:mtg_15jun06, PMID:15157725]