to hope that the next Doctor Who is female and not understand why this would be so terrible?

[findingme]

My first AIBU - I have used advanced search and can't see an existing post on this so apologies if there is. I don't want to link to DM so please just google "Female Doctor Who" to look at the recent articles about this in the DM and newspapers.

It seems that it is a possibility and I can't understand why anyone would think this is a bad idea. AIBU?

Karla, could boys not watch it if there was a female Doctor then?

If the Doctor was female, his apparent (note I say apparent) hatred of using weaponry himself wouldn't be so unusual.

You'd have to alter his canonical moral values, or turn him into a female gender stereotype.

Wow, I can feel the win for feminism.

Christ on a bike, my two daughters are crazy about Dr Who.

Big Finish do an audio series, Gallifrey , based around events under Romana's presidency. I'd like to see that on television, especially if they could get Lalla Ward back.

TolliverGroat That would be cool.

I also want the Doctor to find Jenny again- I keep wondering what she's doing.

OK I can see the point about it being an awful tokeninstic mess if it isn't properly written etc. But I am still going to keep going, wow, let's have a woman this time simply because it makes misogynists so fucking annoyed and makes them look so stupid.

So, if people disagree with you, it's because they're misogynistic? Yay.

TBJ: Most of the arguments against a female Doctor are misogynistic, boiling down to 'We can't have a WOMAN doing anything special, or important! Boys and men won't watch a WOMAN being the lead in a show! Boys and men need role models, because everything else on TV is full of women taking charge, waaah, our cocks are going to fall off...'

It seems to me that most of the arguments for a female regeneration come from a mistaken idea that being a feminist is the same thing as being faux-edgy, and pseudo-liberal, and that silly old sci-fi doesn't matter and doesn't need internally-consistent canon, and well-I-don't-watch-the-show-anyway-but-I-think-it-would-be-cool.

Every time someone asks for a female Doctor, they are actively requesting tokenism.

It's especially irritating when followed up by "Don't be so misogynistic- I'm sure you can have female Time Lords, why would they be all male?" or a variant, because it shows you're being criticised by an up-herself moron who thinks she knows everything, although she has obviously hardly watched an episode.

'Every time someone asks for a female Doctor, they are actively requesting tokenism.'

In fact, in my case anyway, it's actively requesting a change. And a fresh take on a long-running show.

[up-myself moron, apparently]

I don't want a woman, not because I'm a mysoginist. I just like the character how it is and think a woman would be too much of a change.
I know all of the blah blah ways that feminism has changed my life blah, but seriously, get a grip! It's a fucking tv programme. Women won't go back to being chained to the sink, if the Dr stays a bloke!

TheBigJessie, it would have internally consistent canon -- as you acknowledge yourself, Time Nobility clearly can change sex/gender.

I agree with you that it would take a good writing team to pull it off, but that's different from arguing that it would make for an inconsistent canon.

I agree with you that it would need to avoid appearing tokenistic, but the fact that it could if done badly be tokenistic doesn't mean that it should never be done at all even if done well.

Now, I don't particularly think they should do it this time. I don't have strong feelings on it in general, I doubt they'd do it particularly well right now, and I am as positive as positive can be that they have no intention whatsoever of doing anything of the kind anyway so it's all idle speculation. But very very few of the arguments have been based on "silly old sci-fi doesn't matter" or "doesn't need internally-consistent canon" or come from people who don't watch the show. In fact many of them come from people who know that canonically it is at least possible and are excited by the possibilities of exploring some of the dustier corners of canon, and who are hacked off to be told by people who don't actually watch it that it's just canonically impossible.

What's "pseudo-liberal", by the way? And how does it relate to the arguments over Who ?

A female Doctor Who? No. Just No.

I'm a fully paid up Dr Who fan and have watched since the Tom Baker days. Dr Who isn't a job title like 'M' from James Bond. He's a (mysterious) father, grandfather, husband, timeLord.

He's a man. Get over it.

My dd and my ds love Dr Who. I love the way he's someone who isn't perfect, but thinks his way out of trouble and doesn't wade in with fists and weapons.

I would however love another male companion soon. I've loved the interactions with Captain Jack, Wilf, Craig and Rory.

I would never watch again if Dr Who was ever a woman out of sheer incredulity over its ridiculousness.

I wouldn't mind a female Doctor. Something does need to happen as a shake-up is desperately needed.

I was a huge Who fan growing up and was thrilled when the series came back in 2005; but the mainly single-episode format is utterly shit and doesn't give any time for plot or character development, so it's all been a bit meh and I hardly bother watching any more. So yes to a female Doctor and an even bigger perleeeeese bring back the four-episode per story format

SonofArabia, I'd like a 4 episode format too. Yes to that.

While we're at it why not Jane T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. Or Hannah Solo and Lucy Skywalker.

If ever someone wanted to remake Harry Potter, it'd be like someone saying "HP was a boy for 7 whole films....lets have him as a girl for a change. Oh and let's get Emma Watson to play him!"

The Corsair was a Time Lord until he became a Time Lady , harryhausen. The Doctor isn't a man. He's an alien, from a species that can gendershift and reproduces asexually (although canon is admittedly wobbly over whether they are born as physical adults or as children). Get over it, to borrow your own phrase.

Gender switching appears to be quite unusual among the Gallifreyans as we've never seen any on-screen characters who've done it, but it's not so unusual as to excite particular comment from others. So it's not inherently ridiculous to consider that an alien with gendershifting capabilities might opt to exercise those capabilities.

That's a different question from whether the Doctor should regenerate into a female form, from an artistic or any other perspective. There are interesting arguments to be had there. But "he's a man and that's all there is to it" isn't a good argument.

While we're at it why not Jane T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. Or Hannah Solo and Lucy Skywalker.

Do any of these undergo periodic regeneration?

?LadyClariceCannockMonty
"[up-myself moron, apparently]"

Is this a confession that you did say "Don't be so misogynistic- I'm sure you can have female Time Lords, why would they be all male?" or a variant? If the answer is yes, then indeed you are. Good news is: I believe in free will (unlike many Star Trek writers, but that's another thread), so I believe you can change. If you encounter difficulty in changing, just pm me the name of your favourite book and I'll happily volunteer to make a fatuous remark in a pretentious, patronising way.

It's especially irritating when followed up by "Don't be so misogynistic- I'm sure you can have female Time Lords, why would they be all male?" or a variant, because it shows you're being criticised by an up-herself moron who thinks she knows everything, although she has obviously hardly watched an episode.

If you didn't, stop trying to play the victim

Incidentally the film Salt, starring Angeline Jolie was originally written to be a male lead - Okay, I'll get hold of it :)This thread's making me realise how utterly pissed off I am, underneath it all, with strong female characters in strong plots, who nonetheless have to have self-doubt issues and/or impediments caused by an urge to subservience. Tomb Raider was good fun, and now I understand why I found it so exhilarating!

Saggy, I don't want a female Doctor for political reasons but because I am bored with the show following the same old formula. Even as a kid, I used to wish he/it would come back as a woman sometimes. Amy Pond was a great companion, and I liked River Song until she turned out to be all wussy in lurve. I like lizard woman, too, she doesn't ponce around being emotional.

On balance, I agree with those who say Bring Back Serial Plots and Give Us A Female Doctor Written For A Man. While we're at it, I want a 'feisty' male companion again. My gavel has fallen

How is River Song wussy? Just being in love doesn't make someone a wuss.