New Doctor vows to regenerate hero stereotype

[TimeLady]

Whittaker, 36, said she hoped her casting would inspire young girls to aim higher.

“There’s the chiselled superhero that we’re used to seeing and we’ve all grown up with but Doctor Who has never been that, which is wonderful. It’s attainable in so many ways,” she told Radio Times. “And now it isn’t only attainable for half of the population. The other half can be the Doctor as well. Girls will no longer just think, ‘Oh, I could be a companion.’ Being the first female Doctor and showing children that their heroes in shows don’t always look the same is a huge honour for me.”

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/new-doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-promises-to-regenerate-superhero-stereotype-jsvfhx86h

I've seen her in Broadchurch and the fake doctor (ha ha!) thing that was on earlier in the year. There was something else but I can't recall. Which is probably half the problem.

I think Who has always had a good amount of interesting female characters. I've mentioned two on the thread already. Even non companion supporting roles like Jackie Tyler were well worth watching.

Peter Davison was young, yes, which I don't mind in the least.

He was always on a difficult gig following Tom Baker.

Bradley Walsh is the companion?

Doesn't that fall right on line with the trope (I think they call it) that you can have a strong female lead, but that she must have an older male to 'guide her'?

She should have had a younger person so she could guide them/ contrast with them as ususally happens :(

I sadi this right back at the beginning to my DH - that they woul give her an older male companion - who looked at me like I was one of those cynical feminists. I would rather not have been proved right. And yes, DH is clearly a dick.

I think Alex Kingston would have been great as the Dr, but unfortunately she has already been in it.

seafret, that's not necessarily a bar to someone being the Doctor. But yes, very unlikely. Besides, I'm very fond of River Song staying as Alex Kingston's contribution.

Bradley Walsh isn't the only companion. There are three, the other two are much younger.

I am sure she is great floral :) I haven't watched it regulalry for years, just here and there as I do find it a bit overwrought sometimes! Have managed to miss AK as River Song entirely I think.

I'm looking forward to giving it a go and seeing what the dynamic is. Will keep an open mind re BW's role.

Capaldi being in it before, in the Pompeii episode (and maybe there have been other similar cases ) isn't remotely comparable to Kingston's contribution spanning series and being the Dr's wife ... it would be beyond weird to contemplate having her as the Dr!

Errol, the other example was Colin Baker as Doctor number 6. But he was a minor character before, probably more minor than Capaldi's.
But, frankly, we're talking about a decades old science fiction show, which famously makes up the rules as it goes along, and has replaced the male lead with a woman, so I think anything is possible

It's no good complaining bitterly about the transgender movement in every other thread if you'll happily subscribe to the idea of what is essentially a MtF scenario appearing in a sci fi show that's deeply embedded in popular culture and aimed at a young audience. You wouldn't have a female Doctor if if wasn't for the BBC's virtue signalling. It's not a signal for women's long term cultural benefit, even if it is peddled as such.

The doctor should have stayed male.

Sci-fi doesn't have to obey human biological laws, or indeed any actual scientific laws. Most people know what 'fantasy' means.

Dr who isn't bloody trans ffs. It's always been known that timelords could be either. The Master/Missy.

The only reason the Dr hasn't been a woman before is due to sexism and the presumption that a female lead wouldn't command high enough ratings for a prime time show.

We'll just have to wait and see.

Codswallop, WonderFluid.

The Doctor is an alien who has the ability to regenerate every cell of his body when he's dying, which also leads to wild personality variations. He has two hearts, a massive lung capacity and a genius level intellect. His race all have these biological capacities, and in very recent years it has been established that sex is also a variable element.

As it happens, there has been a trans actor in Who during one of the most recent series, but it was completely mishandled in my view - the actor was pretty wasted, the character was practically an extra and there were some really weird messages in the plot. But that's by the by.

I'm sure that those who base their understanding of human biology on 80's body swap movies would be quite likely to look to the Doctor becoming a woman as a blueprint for trans liberation, but the rest of the grown ups understand that high concept science fiction fantasy is a really, really stupid basis for legislation.

The Doctor has, of course, always had a gender neutral title.

*Bradley Walsh is the companion?

Doesn't that fall right on line with the trope (I think they call it) that you can have a strong female lead, but that she must have an older male to 'guide her'?

She should have had a younger person so she could guide them/ contrast with them as ususally happens*

I actually like the idea of having a more mature companion as I found some of the 'will they, won't they?' stuff with some of the younger ones (especially Rose) a bit tedious. Agree, though, that it would be wrong if BW was suddenly some kind of male guiding figure. I'd be surprised if they made that mistake though.

I actually like the idea of having a more mature companion as I found some of the 'will they, won't they?' stuff with some of the younger ones (especially Rose) a bit tedious. Agree, though, that it would be wrong if BW was suddenly some kind of male guiding figure. I'd be surprised if they made that mistake though.

Hope not Milly!

I also think the 'will they won't they' is totally unnecessary. And sexist (and bit dodgy) with the older hero man and impressionable but feisty young girl. V lazy. The worst outcome would be that we get will they wont they with the younger male (or girl obvs) and a guiding or helping older male.

I'd like it if they all looked up to her and there were no sexual shenanigens! Just lots of sci fi stuff :)

Can we not forget Donna please. Not remotely a will they won't they. And jolly good fun.

The dynamic of the quirky authority figure of the Doctor and his assorted studenty companions is a staple of the show. The occasional romantic element is really only New Who, but the paternalistic nature of the Doctor over the companion is there from the year dot.

What will be interesting is seeing how that dynamic plays out with a fairly unremarkable and unimposing woman and three new, as yet undefined human personalities to bounce off that.

I hope they don't fall into the other lazy trop of older guy who thinks he's the knowledgeable capable guide but actually keeps getting his arse handed to him.

I was thinking about Donna this evening - I guess they had a bit of a trial run for female Dr with the 'DoctorDonna' arc.

I hope we don't see any of this type of thing from Bradley in the Tardis

Yes. I think we're all agreed we don't want lazy tropes. Tbh, that's probably the more interesting thing for me, quite apart from the headline grabbing casting. I don't especially rate Chibnall as a writer, so I'm quite interested to see what he does - but of course the awkward and frustrating thing is that if he cocks up the writing and ideas, Whittaker will be the one who probably will get the negativity...

I'm a little worried that if it doesn't go well they might feel they've got a lazy excuse to cancel it again. Feels after two regenerations that haven't been seen as overwhelming successes that they need to get it right this time.

Milly, you're not wrong. I guess that's why an eye catching risk was probably the most sensible course to take at this point.
It's still a hugely popular worldwide money spinner for the BBC, though, so they are much more likely to employ format jiggery pokery than cancel at this stage I think.

I'm keeping an open mind but I'm still bristling with Jodie's early interview where she asked not to be judged "by mr gender.' Grrrrr!

"By MY gender"!

I was almost tempted to buy one of her new Dr Who posters when I was in HMV last night.