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?

Or Felicity Kendall?

Yes, I'd love to see a female Dr Who.

If the whole of the doctor's body regenerates then why should the only thing to stay the same be the sex?

Judi Dench would be fantastic.

The females in Torchwood were interesting and non-identikit characters, at least. They did have a bit of a tendency to go all weak at the knees over Captain Jack/other unsuitable men, but then the men weren't immune from that. And there were interesting female walk-on characters, as in "Out of Time" where the female pilot loved and left Owen in favour of seeking adventure through the Rift.

On balance? Stronger than most programmes. But I'd need to rewatch the whole thing (haven't seen most of them beyond the once when they were originally broadcast) to firm up whether I'd say objectively "strong" or not.

If the whole of the doctor's body regenerates then why should the only thing to stay the same be the sex?

I guess it depends how he regenerates. Do his cells just rearrange or are they new? If they just rearrange, wouldn't there be Y chromosomes hanging about (ignoring for a moment the fact that he isn't human :) )?

I thought the Torchwood characters were basically strong and not "feisty" or "sassy" or simply decorative.

No, no, no a female Doctor would just be wrong.

Oh, yes, they weren't (thank goodness) "sassy". That's just bloody irritating.

Interestingly Torchwood had (over its first two series before it killed off Owen and Tosh) two regular female writers (Helen Raynor and Catherine Tregenna) plus Jacquetta May who wrote one episode.

They've well overdone the "nerdy prat" angle with Ecclestone/Tenant/Smith.

As someone said, Idris Elba would be great, though I doubt the budget would stretch that far.

I reckon Eddie Izzard would be perfect.

(Sorry if he has already been suggested)

Who cares? Doctor Who is for morons.

When I catch up on this thread, I'm sure I'll find someone's alaready mentioned it - but Dr Who HAS regenerated as female, at least once in recent history and I think in earlier times as well. He came back as young, mixed-race woman; can't remember the rest of the detail. It was during the Amy Pond era.

River Song is a timelord. I'd love for her to be the next generation, but she's too well-known I think.

That was Melody Pond/River Song in her "Mels" incarnation, garlicgrump, not the Doctor himself.

Oh, was it? You're right, she was called Mels. Darn, I was sure I remembered a fab scene where he came round and was really pleased with all the new curves! Have I wishfully conflated 2 reincarnations?

Haha, Kim, the early Doctors always dealt with Daleks by means of surrealism! Izzard could do that!

I wouldn't mind a female Doctor in the future, but since I think moffat sucks at writing female characters I don't want this next regeneration to be a woman. Matt smith can stay, but I wish moffat would regenerate into a better writer.
It's odd I really like his Sherlock but Dr Who is not up to par.

I wouldn't want to see a female doctor personally, but they have already paved the way for it.

Remember The Doctor almost died when River shot him in the Hitler episode and he only survived because she gave him her regeneration powers - it is only a small step to argue that those regeneration powers will result in a female regeneration this time round.

It may also be a convenient get out for the 13 regenerations thing - that handover could give the Doctor 11 new regenerations.

If they do stick with the 13 and kill the doctor off after this one, then all they need to do to carry on the series is bring back the doctors daughter - which I suspect is why that character was written in the first place.

The doctor's daughter was originally supposed to die for real at the end of her episode -- having her coming back to life and heading off into the universe was a very late change IIRC.

And we need female daleks and cyberwomen too.
Are daleks male BTW?

My husband is a huge Doctor Who fan and he has nothing against the possibility of a female Doctor Who.

However in his own words, he did say, "if the next Doctor is to be female, it should only be because the best 'candidate' is a woman, and not just have a female Doctor for the sake of having a woman in the role."

He is right there. If they do decide upon a female doctor, just for the sake of having a woman (so they can tick that box), then it's hardly a win for the feminist fight is it?! We want women to get such jobs in TV - and in any walk of life - because they're the best for the job, not just to tick boxes.

I?ve just popped back to read the responses, as I have been thinking about this all day, done a bit of reading on fan sites and I have read a mixture of opinions. Lots of ?proper fans? don?t see a problem, whereas lots do. Reasons for No range from it would be unpopular with fans and the series would lose a large audience, and b.b.b.ut the Doctor is a Man Because.... he is! There are examples for and against both options.

I don?t feel as strongly as many on this thread, and won?t be campaigning for a female doctor, I was just pondering why the thought was so dreadful! I think FreedomoftheTess and husband sums up my opinion perfectly:

"However in his own words, he did say, "if the next Doctor is to be female, it should only be because the best 'candidate' is a woman, and not just have a female Doctor for the sake of having a woman in the role.""