July 16th, 2017
1,093 comments
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Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 2:01pmAnd none of them were female? Don’t know how if gender is fluid on Gallifrey?
Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 1:58pmMaybe a few years rest might have been better?
Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 1:57pmStarbuck in Battlestar Galactica changed gender when it rebooted, and she was brilliant.
Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 1:55pmBang on Adam.
The Outcast
July 17th, 2017 - 1:54pmThe “Regeneration is a lottery, you never know what you’re going to get” is actually a mixture of 2 quotes, one from ‘Time and the Rani’ and one from Castravalva.
Anonymous
July 17th, 2017 - 1:52pmI think it’s no accident that the current Doctor will regenerate into a woman after encountering the first Doctor at, presumably , the time he himself regenerated for the first time.
In 1966 the fact that he could turn into another man was as radical an idea as swapping genders is now. Could this be the point to resurrecting the first Doctor?
Of course we had the Daleks to cushion the blow back then. Which suggests to me that Jodie Whittaker’s first story playing the Doctor NEEDS to be a Dalek story. And, like “Power “, it needs to be bloody good one.
Mick181
July 17th, 2017 - 1:50pmPats86 i am worried about the future of Doctor Who fullstop, irrespective of who was made the new Doctor, the writing hasn’t been great for a couple of years now, the whole show has looked rushed. These last couple of seasons most episodes have been about 30 mins to short, too much attention to FX and not enough to the storyline, need to get back to the nitty gritty stuff.
Adam
July 17th, 2017 - 1:45pmThere’s plenty of ways they could have freshened the show up without changing the gender of the central character…good writing and story telling for starters..
12th Doctor Fan
July 17th, 2017 - 1:39pmThankyou I so agree, I’ll give her chance but won’t be buying any 13th stuff, sorry but that’s how I feel,
Adam
July 17th, 2017 - 1:35pmGo watch The brain of morbius…the dr had 8 different faces before the 1st so technically the 1st is actually the 9th..which make’s the 5th the 13th and the last of that cycle of regeneration’s..6 was the first of his new cycle so the 12th dr is really the 8th and the 20th incarnation overall…21 if you want to count Tennant into Tennant…
booboo
July 17th, 2017 - 1:32pmto be fair most of the others are human Characters and to change them would be quite frankly ridiculous
I do hear what you say about whether those clambering for it will actually watch or if they are just “jumping on the bandwagon”
Gordon
July 17th, 2017 - 1:23pmWhich could say rtd had a hand. “regeneration is a lottery. You never know what you are going to get”
You could also hark back to Sydney numan in 1986 who wanted the doctor to be a woman
Gordon
July 17th, 2017 - 1:20pmI wonder how long the show would be able to carry on with the current status quo of the male lead actor and female co star. The ratings being the lowest since the late 80s. Yes I know the way people consume tv has changed but it still doesn’t change the fact it’s becoming a tired show (I liked capaldi btw) in its current format and less casual people are watching. It’s been on air since 2005. In the current climate that’s a rare feat. It needs a massive shot in the arm and I don’t think chibnill coming in alone would do that. Since 2005 We have had An actor In their 20s 30s 40s 50s and 70s as the doctor. If we had gone for another male in the similar age rating it could be seen as harking back to a different era. the show that has been about change since 1964 is changing again. This is just the next step in its evolution. Sure they could have had a strong female companion but we’ve been there before. It wouldn’t change the dynamic of the show or keep it fresh or new as we’ve been there before. This gives chibnill a completely baggage free toy box to play with. I know some fans won’t accept it but fans in a lot of circumstances fear change. Just look at how capaldi or smith was received. Some didn’t want them at first but when they were leaving they didn’t want them to go. If you want another example some fans hated Martha at first because it wasn’t rose and some hated her because the companion should be white but she proved them wrong. Chibnill said he was taking risks boy was he right about that
The Prydonian
July 17th, 2017 - 1:20pmThe issue is not Jodie Whitaker, who is a fine actress. The issue is The Doctor is a male character. End of. The dynamic will be completely wrong. What is the sex of the Doctor now as a character ? Maybe Tarzan or Luke Skywalker should be female ? Are there people or there angry that a woman doesn’t play Bond ? Probably. It’s ridiculous. As good as Michelle Gomez was, making the Master female was bad enough. If they had to have a female Doctor/ Master why not have them inhabit a body to survive some catastrophe and in a way still allow the canon to remain in tact. Most of the people foaming at the mouth for a female Doctor probably are not fans of the show anyway. PC gone mad.
Tim M
July 17th, 2017 - 1:14pmRobert Holmes created the limited 12 regenerations in ‘The Deadly Assassin’. Terrance Dicks created the possibility of a ‘new’ life cycle for the Master in ‘The Five Doctors’. RTD wiped out the Time Lords in a ‘Time War’. Steven Moffat brought them back, and created the fact that Time Lords can change gender. What you can see is the Mythology of the Time Lords has been interpreted in different ways by different writers over many years. So I will be interested to see what Chris Chibnall will add to the mythology. I think I liked RTD interpretation best. Just getting rid of the Time Lords and Gallifrey.
Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 1:14pmI am prepared to do just that, but I am very worried at the same time.
Adam
July 17th, 2017 - 1:07pmIvanno jeremiah wouldn’t have been a fantastic choice and the breathe of fresh air the series needed…his role as a synth in Humans is spellbinding to watch…so alien..so doctorish..
Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 1:06pmSonic hair curlers? booboo get it patented quick!
Tim M
July 17th, 2017 - 1:02pmChris Chibnall is just fulfilling the groundwork laid down by Steven Moffat.
Pats86
July 17th, 2017 - 1:00pmDanger Mouse?
Yingyang
July 17th, 2017 - 12:58pmI can think of no positive male role model left in any BBC drama programme now.
booboo
July 17th, 2017 - 12:57pmand the cosplay market is huge, sonic screwdrivers are massive sellers
The Moffat Paradox
July 17th, 2017 - 12:54pmThe idea that Moffat didn’t have any input in this decision by at least laying the premise development groundwork and could bot foresee the reaction (but still went ahead with turning apple carts anyway beggars credulity.
Plus he and (maybe Chibnall ) seem to exude an attitude that just about everyone else is an idiot but him.
Yingyang
July 17th, 2017 - 12:51pmOne my sons has every sonic screwdriver from Eccleston to date, David Tennant’s Tardis onwards. He wore Tennant’s outfit out and moved onto Matt Smith.
I know he will not want any of the new Doctors stuff even though I would happily buy them. Ah well, money saved.
Tim M
July 17th, 2017 - 12:48pmNobody though can be too surprised we are getting a female Doctor. Moffat has deliberately added to or ruined (take your pick) Time Lord mythology. He has on several occasions alluded to the issue the Doctor (Time Lords) can change gender. The 8th Doctor was offered the chance to be female on Karn. The 11th Doctor just after regenerating from his 10th incarnation, thinks for a moment he’s a girl. The General on Gallifrey changed gender, and most obviously the Master became Missy. Whether we like it or not, is it really all that surprising. It’s been clearly signposted by Moffat since he took over. It was heading down this path once Matt Smith uttered his first words…and I mean as the Doctor..not when he was a baby!
Yingyang
July 17th, 2017 - 12:45pmNot true Thomas. Some will never be happy with the casting, some will, most of the world couldn’t care.
The only one I wasn’t happy with was Sylvester McCoy, that turned out well.
Doctor Stu
July 17th, 2017 - 12:40pmI wanted Ben Whishaw to play the part for more LGBT recognition I think gay people are more understanding because they’re so used to persecution they see the world differently and when things like this happen they recognize it’s a good step for diversity and female representation. I love this decision of a female Doctor it doesn’t bother me in the slightest
booboo
July 17th, 2017 - 12:31pmthey all ended up in the pound shop because toys r us put them in the girls section, when i went into buy them it never even occurred to me to look there (I looked by the Doctor Who stuff so assumed they did not have any)
Adam
July 17th, 2017 - 12:31pmNah…fans who like myself are against this piece of sensationalist casting will dip into the first episode just out of curiosity….then cringe and hit the off switch when the timelady starts waving around her new sonic hair curlers…
Tim M
July 17th, 2017 - 12:29pmPats86. The fact is this will either be judged a success or a failure. The fact it is a woman cast as the Doctor isn’t the issue. The issue will be when we have seen the next series, and whether a) Jodie acts extremely well in the title role. b) She maintains a loyal following and decent viewing figures…and c) Chibnall and his team write the best stuff they have ever written. It needs these 3 things to be judged a success. If one of these 3 things fail. The whole thing fails. But we can only really be critical or satisfied once we have actually seen a few episodes. I don’t think you could even judge properly from an opening episode. Unfortunately we will likely have to wait over a year to see it! But this is the biggest and riskiest changeover since Hartnell to Troughton. A change of actor in the series seemed unthinkable in 1966. A change of actor to actress (Capaldi to Whittaker) seems unthinkable to many in 2017. Let’s just keep our cool, and wait and see.