The new Doctor Who is a woman! What do you all think?

[Dario Western]

Hi all,

Unless you have all been living under a rock for the past week, you would no doubt know that the new Doctor Who has been announced, and for the first time in the show's 54-year-old history, the role has been taken on by a woman.

35-year-old British actress Jodie Whittaker who has previously been in shows like "Broadchurch" and "The Smoke" is excited to be taking on the role, and has been warmly welcomed by several DW actors and actresses on Twitter and on social media.

Not everybody is happy with the change, especially a number of old school fans who have decided to boycott the show saying that the Doctor should always be played by a man.

To rub salt into the wound, The Sun also tried to discredit Whittaker by publishing stills of some nude roles she has previously done in her acting career including some sex scenes and posing nude for a life drawing class.

As I am a feminist, I applaud the change and I am more than willing to give her a chance to see how she pans out as the 13th Doctor. 

Here is a lovely YouTube clip of her introductory scene to the show:

[DrgHybrid]

I'm just a stickler for change I suppose. So much trying to conform and they ultimately just ruin it all.

Ghostbusters - flop

Karate Kid - flop

Just two examples. Popular shows just need to keep the same gender for the leading role. Just my opinion of course. Would be like if we turned Orphan Anne into Orphan Andy. Or Jill Valentine in Resident Evil became Jim Valentine. Same difference. Just my 2 cents on it anyways.

[zips4321]

Don't watch the show, don't care to be honest. If they want to make the doctor a woman that's fine by me. As long as the show doesn't take a completely different route I can understand the change. Just don't ruin the show by pushing the fact that she's a female doctor as the driving point of the show. Make the plot of the show the driving point. Simple as that.

[David B]

I have mixed feelings. I feel that the gender switch might make the show too different. With all the other doctors being male I feel that it wouldn't be a reincarnate. It would be a totally different other doctor set in the whoverse. If they had reincarnated to other females in the past then i would be ok with it. But I'll give her a shot. I gave capaldi a shot and didn't like him and stop watching his. So if I don't like her then I'll just wait till they reincarnate a new dr

[RONATRON]

Whittaker is a brilliant actor, I think she will do the role justice. For balance they'll give her a male companion, and i would assume try to explore the internal power struggle of the Doctor trying not to fall in love with her companion; because for some reason, writers always like to make a female protagonist fall in love.

With Moffat leaving the show; BBC is bound to try something new and edgy before they revert back to a male lead after 1 season - maybe 2 if they can stick away from a "Doctor in love" storyline.

[Sub4_GB]

Jodie Whittaker wasnt born too far from me and i always support local talent so good luck to her.

[DaniSnow]

I think it's ok, no one really knows if the Dr is originally male or female.
I'd actually like to see the other time lord (the woman that's on the current season, forgot her name) be the new Dr, she i bit of a bitch but the nice kind, and she is spicier then the current Dr

[Delta]

I think it's ok, no one really knows if the Dr is originally male or female.
I'd actually like to see the other time lord (the woman that's on the current season, forgot her name) be the new Dr, she i bit of a bitch but the nice kind, and she is spicier then the current Dr

Considering the first Doctor is the original incarnation (in most works, the series is rather inconsistent from what I have read), so I am pretty certain that "originally", the Doctor is male. Not sure what the point of that is though, both the Corsair and the Master have already had incarnations of different sexes. I know rather little of Doctor Who, but I would imagine that neither the concept of gender nor the biological property of sex transcend regenerations in a Time Lord. Or... Time Lady?

[NudistMetalHead]

I welcome the change.  The show has always successfully functioned on two things:  The talent of the lead actor and the strength of the stories that have been written.  From what I have seen of Whittaker, she's a talented actress.  My hope is the writing will be just as good. 

On a side note, glad to see Moffatt finally stepping off this show.

[Brendarella]

You need to remember that the Doctor isn't human, he's Gallifreyan. So far, we've only seen two genders of Gallifreyans portrayed, but for all we know, there are many others.  So for all those of you who are complaining that he's gone from being a man to being a woman just be grateful he's not turned into a giant ostrich or a ten foot snake. ????

But seriously, I'm looking forward to the change and it will add a whole new dynamic to the Doctor Who universe and may even bring in a new generation of viewers and fans.

[Brendarella]

@Dante
I agree 100% with all that.

BTW, did you know that in Alien, the captain of the Nostromo was going to be a woman and part of the second in command (Ripley) was going to be a man.

[Longingtobenude]

I like how each regeneration has a "hard reset" feel to it.  But, around the last few episodes with Matt Smith, I'd lost interest.  I didn't care for the whole "impossible girl" story at all.  For me it can only get better instead of worse at this point. 

I don't think gender plays too much of a role in who the character of Dr Who is.   

So I'm not only cool with it, but its finally got me interested in the show again. 

[Brendarella]

@Dante
Yes I preferred it when the companions were people who had accidentally stumbled on the TARDIS of the Doctor and got pulled in the the story.

I've never liked the idea that companions are in any way "special" or that the Doctor keeps revisiting them at home, asking them to go on an adventure with him, like they are playmates or something.

The companions are our way into the story and, as such, they need to be the "everyman" (or woman) so we can insert ourselves in. That's why this last few series has felt so alienating.

[Stephen]

She was great in Broadchurch... and it's a nice twist, the doctor re-gender-rated

[Ємαиυєℓ™]

It all boils down to what story arch the writers will give to her. She's a great actress.