Doctor Who (2 Viewers)

[NeilO]

Well, it is Jodie Whittaker.
https://twitter.com/BBCOne/status/886608239017775106

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Not a huge shocker. I think Chibnall had a mandate to cast a female Doctor, and as you mentioned in a previous post, Whittaker was one of his female leads for "Broadchurch."

I still think it's a mistake to go in this direction. It'll change the dynamics of the show too much. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Scott-S]

If they had always mixed the genders up, I would be ok with this. But this feels like it is just for political and ratings reasons.

I will give her a chance, but I hope they don't spend the entire season doing stories about the Doctor being a women. Hopefully they will just continue forward without even really mentioning it (other than maybe the first episode), If they really want this to mean something, it should be considered a normal thing and they should just carry on with non-gender related stories.

 

[Josh Dial]

I still think it's a mistake to go in this direction. It'll change the dynamics of the show too much.

I don't know what that means. I suspect it doesn't mean anything.

 

[David Weicker]

I am not happy about this.

Her acting ability has nothing to do with it ( she is fine in Broadchurch)

The character is a male. Period. Missy was a mistake, and so is this.

It is stunt casting just to 'shake things up'.

I've been watching for almost 40 years, but today I am sad

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I am not happy about this.

Her acting ability has nothing to do with it ( she is fine in Broadchurch)

The character is a male. Period. Missy was a mistake, and so is this.

It is stunt casting just to 'shake things up'.

I've been watching for almost 40 years, but today I am sad

The character is an alien that has two hearts, travels in time in a blue box, and has changed every cell in its body 12 times so far.

 

[Josh Dial]

A few points:

• The Doctor (likely before donning The Doctor title) has likely had a series of regenerations before becoming the first Doctor [The Brain of Morbius]. We have only seen the faces of some of those earlier forms; others could have been female.
  
• The Corsair was a Time Lord that regenerated as both male and female [The Doctor's Wife; the novel Shada].
• The General switches sexes during their regeneration [Hell Bent].
• Time Lords have some measure of control over their regenerations (though like everything in the show, the "rules" are...fluid). Romana specifically chose her eventual appearance [Destiny of the Daleks].

Having watched both the classic series (including watching it "live" from the Fifth Doctor onward) and the modern series, I don't think any issues arise out of having a female Doctor. The "dynamics" won't change in the least--or, if they do, it will be because of other reasons created by the new showrunner and team of writers.

 

[NeilO]

The character is an alien that has two hearts, travels in time in a blue box, and has changed every cell in its body 12 times so far.

From World Enough and Time, “We’re billions of years beyond your petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes.”

 

[The Obsolete Man]

From World Enough and Time, “We’re billions of years beyond your petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes.”

I haven't watched that yet, but they've been basically setting this up since the Smith era when the Corsair was first mentioned.

Then the General who regenerated as a woman. And from what I've read the final episode of this past season all but said the Female Doctor was on her way.

And even though I call her Doctor Broadchurch Mom, I think she's a good choice.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I’m glad they wrapped-up River Song’s arc before this event ... !!

This could go either way: It might end up being the coolest thing that’s ever happened to this series ... or a complete catastrophe. I don’t think there will be any middle ground.

 

[KevinGress]

Prepare for the incoming s#!tstorm.

Yep. I, for one, am out. I've prided myself on always finding something to like about each choice for the Doctor, but this isn't the Doctor so I'm not participating.

 

[gadgtfreek]

They spent the last season doing things for ratings, and Bill was terrible as a companion. Woman having nothing to do with it, I did not care for her in Broadchurch, so Ill just skip it until they regenerate again. I mean after this season dropping it was in the back of my mind, now its a definite.

 

[Steve Berger]

I have no problem with a female Time Lord after regeneration.It's been a possibility alluded to throughout the run. But, honestly, I never want to see another Dalek, Cyberman, or "The Master" again. It's a complete lack of writing skill or imagination (IMHO) that they feel the need to have each new Doctor battle the same old enemies again, and again, and again.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I have to say, I never knew until 13's casting was confirmed that the Doctor's penis was the source of so many people's enjoyment of the show.

You really would have thought it would have had a bigger role, or at least a credit in the main titles.

 

[David Weicker]

I have to say, I never knew until 13's casting was confirmed that the Doctor's penis was the source of so many people's enjoyment of the show.

You really would have thought it would have had a bigger role, or at least a credit in the main titles.

Well, based on many people's reactions on social media the Doctor's new sex organ is what was desired

 

[Bob_S.]

I haven't watched Dr. Who in a while. I think I might have seen 1 episode with the current one. I kind of compare this to changing a superhero from white to black. I have no problem with another time lord being a female. I do have a problem changing a character that has been male since the beginning of the show decades ago to female. So I probably won't watch it.

 

[Chris Will]

If this had been done during a time when there was as much out cry about women needing more roles then I probably wouldn't think twice about it. Doing it now, just like the Sulu change in Beyond, seems more like a political stunt.

I love Dr. Who so I will continue to watch and hopefully she will be a good Dr. I just hope they don't fill the show with "oh, I'm a female now" type of jokes. That will get old fast.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

If they had always mixed the genders up, I would be ok with this.

This is part of my issue; while Neil Gaiman opened the door to Time Lords switching genders via regeneration with "The Doctor's Wife", the Corsair swapped genders with some regularity. Since the other Time Lords and Time Ladies we'd met up to that point had stuck with one gender through the regenerations, I figured they almost had three genders: always male, always female and sometimes one and sometimes the other. There was nothing that explicitly confirmed this of course, so they're free to take a different tack. I supposed it's also possible that a regeneration cycle can be all male, all female, or sometimes one and sometimes the other. The Doctor's original regeneration cycle was all male, but the next regeneration cycle is a mix.

But "Doctor Who" is 53 years old, and the concept of gender-switching Time Lords is only six years old.

I don't know what that means. I suspect it doesn't mean anything.

None of the qualities that make the Doctor the Doctor -- his humor, his intellect, his non-conformity, his humanism, his deep-rooted sense of compassion and morality, his wanderlust -- are intrinsically male. I'm sure that the core of the character will survive intact with the Whittaker iteration. If they don't, that's a fault of Chibnall and his writers, not the concept.

But the show has always centered around a mad old grandpa and his magic box, usually accompanied by a young woman. Gender is more than biological sex, it's also inherent to how one conceives of his or her own identity, and how one is perceived by others. You could stick me in a female body, and I'd still think of myself as male. The Doctor's had a lot more experience reinventing himself than I have, and he's not rooted in late 20th century social mores like I am. But I don't think a female Doctor is as interchangeable as the various male Doctors can be. The Doctor and her companions will have a different relationship, and the way the Doctor is received when she steps out of the TARDIS will be different. The start of the Moffat/Smith era was a mini-reboot, and the start of the Chibnall/Whittaker era will be an even bigger mini-reboot. I think it's a more daunting challenge to reestablish the show's footing than it would have been with another male Doctor. Doesn't mean it can't be done, and I hope they pull it off. But it does mean trying to capture lightning in a smaller bottle.

From World Enough and Time, “We’re billions of years beyond your petty human obsession with gender and its associated stereotypes.”

Clearly Moffat knew at this point that Chibnall was planning on casting a female Doctor, and he wanted to put his own stamp on the parameters of that. I don't think it's necessarily a bad tack to take, since "Agent Carter"-style lampshading of how tough it is to be a woman would get tiresome very fast. If the Thirteenth Doctor is barely aware of her gender, it allows the show to just get on with it.

Then the General who regenerated as a woman. And from what I've read the final episode of this past season all but said the Female Doctor was on her way.

The interesting thing about the General was that based on her commentary she was born female and the vast majority of her regenerations had been female. The regeneration we first met, a middle-aged white male, was the aberration, and she was happy to be back to a female form when she regenerated into a black woman.

I have no problem with another time lord being a female. I do have a problem changing a character that has been male since the beginning of the show decades ago to female.

I would have been far more excited about a spinoff built around a female Time Lady than this. I do think this is less problematic than most changes from male to female would be, since the mythology provides a built-in mechanism to explain it.

I love Dr. Who so I will continue to watch and hopefully she will be a good Dr. I just hope they don't fill the show with "oh, I'm a female now" type of jokes. That will get old fast.

I agree completely. I didn't want them to go with a female Doctor, but since they have I hope they make it great. I wouldn't deprive myself of the pleasure of watching "Doctor Who" over one decision I disagree with. If I stop watching, it'll be because the show isn't good, not because the Doctor's female.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My issue is simply this: as soon as they finally figured out how to write for Capaldi, Capaldi stepped down.

That is the only source of my disappointment at this moment. They are changing doctors much too quickly in my view. The gender isn't really the issue for me. The issue is that I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Capaldi.

Also, she'll be the fourteenth doctor.

 

[NeilO]

But the show has always centered around a mad old grandpa and his magic box, usually accompanied by a young woman.

When he was a mad old grandpa (first Doctor and perhaps second) he was accompanied more often than not by a young man and a young woman. It wasn't until the Pertwee, which was trying to be more like James Bond, that the companion was more often a young woman and then there was the whole UNIT crew around as well on Earth. The makeup of the companion team has changed quite a lot over the years.

It seems to me that for at least the past 3 seasons, they have been trying to warm us up to the idea of a female Doctor. Chris Chibnall has stated in the recent press release, "I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we're thrilled to have secured our number one choice." How long he shared his desire with Steven Moffat is unknown at the moment.