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

This is the first series I have watched since I was a child, probably inspired by the female lead. We all watched together as a family (a rare show we can all agree on). DS (8) got a sonic screwdriver for Christmas. DD (10) has already decided to be Dr Who for halloween. All my kids have a strong female role model and I am delighed.

Yep, preachy, plodding and bland sums it up for me. Or as the Daily Mail says today

".... one of the problems with Jodie Whittaker is she is about as authoritative as a netball teacher."

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6545637/Jim-Shelly-weeks-Doctor-Who.html

The Russell T Davies era was head and shoulders above the rest.

I'm relieved the excruciating up-his-own-backside Moffat storylines have gone but otherwise underwhelmed by this series.

For me there is something wrong with how the whole thing is edited.
It doesn't flow. The companions are great, loved yesterday's dalek , may be next time round they will have got the hang of the Dr.

I've really enjoyed it! I loved yesterday's episode especially. I'll admit I'm easily pleased when it comes to Doctor Who though. I do love Jodie Whittaker, I think she's been fab.
Ace was my childhood hero (I met her, well the person who played her recently and she's wonderful). I remember her as fierce and strong and I just wanted to be her. I love that young girls now can have the doctor as their sci fi hero. My DS1 thinks she's brilliant too.

The line that irritated me most last night was “I’m the doctor and these are my best friends...”

I mean, can you imagine them scripting a male doctor to be so embarrassingly desperate to be liked? She’s not showing a strong female role model, she’s an over-excited puppy making things right thanks to her clever/brave/resourceful best friends and sheer good luck.

And I don’t care about Ryan’s daddy issues, wish they’d stop shoe-horning them in. Also, the ‘dyspraxia’ only when convenient to the plot.

Makes me so sad. I mea, Matt Smith was goofy but he wasn’t reliant on his companions like JW is. Embarrassing.

Ace was a huge favourite of mine. She had spark, gumption and was really interesting.

I'm glad that some feel they have a positive role model for their daughters, but tbh, from my perspective as the mother of daughters I find it tremendously disappointing that such an unimpressive turn is the best version of the Doctor I can so far offer them. Olivia Colman would have knocked it out of the park, I suspect. Oh well.

The Ryan/daddy issues was the point where I went out of the room to watch paint dry last night. Beyond tedious.

Heaven help her if she comes across River Song (Alex Kingston).

Under 10s shouldn't be enjoying Doctor Who - they should be behind the sofa, terrified.

I quite like JW's Doctor and the companions, and I've enjoyed the actual plots, but other parts of the writing seem forced.

Having said that though, I did think there would be a lot more "oh look, I'm a woman" than there has been, even if it's just been replaced by "oh look, I'm Northern". (Although I am a Northerner, so I get the need to celebrate it )

DD2 was a huge dr who fan. We watched the first episode and she actually cried with disappointment. Watched a few more but it's clunky, and it grates. I'm slightly gutted.

I personally like where women are at the centre from the start. Killing Eve, Atomic Blonde, Hunger Games.
I saw someone mention the Dr's daughter episode. I would have liked a spin off based around her. I really think this JW was a mistake.

I am enjoying it. And as always I have to stick up for the dyspraxia. I am happy it gets mentioned at all. I didn't know my condition had a name until I was 24 years old so if Ryan's dyspraxia gives even one young person a name for what they have, it will have done good.

I’ve always thought Chibnal was overrated. Broadchurch Series one was okay but anyone who thought it was gripping needs to watch Scandinavian thrillers and see how it’s done.

Also, can the Doctor please stop telling everyone how nice she is? I prefer the Doctor to be an arrogant prick who wants everyone in the room to know how smart he/she is, not how much he/she values friendship.

Best Doctor since it returned was John Hurt.

Aspie, yer spot on. I know I'm beginnimg to sound like an Olivia Colman fangirl, but imo, she was what made series 1 Broadchurch as watchable as it was.

The "Will you be my new best friends" schtick has got to be the most grating misstep for me so far. Never mind all the complaints about 'political correctness' wrt the plot lines, for me it's the constant preaching to kids about how important friends are in such a laboured way. I half expect each episode to end with a hackneyed "And what important lessons have we all learned today, kids?" sign off coda.

I'm now doubly sad was I'm imagining it with Olivia Coleman and I'm liking my dream

The thing is, you don’t need to say how valuable friendship is. You can just show it. That’s why I loved Spock.

Exactly. Which is why, as much as I don't rate Whittaker very much, I think the biggest problem is Chibnall by a country mile, and I said some time ago that I shall be cheesed off if the general crapness is blamed on it being a 'woman Doctor' when the fault lies with the showrunner.

Whittaker is only as good as the scripts allow, imo- and some of the scripts are poor. The Demons of the Punjab was shockingly poorly written - the writing at times came over like a GCSE student effort. And Chibnall isn't a good showrunner AT ALL.

Whittaker deserves better material to work with.

Aspie - correct. Rule 1 of scriptwriting is 'show, don't tell'. This series breaks that rule far too often.

I really wanted to love this new series, as the dds have only recently got into Dr Who and so we have watched many series over the past few months.
However I hate it . The dialogue is so clunky and unnatural. JW lacks charisma as the Dr. The new “best friends” (cringe) are all interchangable and characterless. The stories are morality by numbers ,or dull and predictable. Daughters agree, neither of them very impressed, and we all were excited at the idea of a woman in the role. I don’t think JW is a good fit, but over and above that the writing is terrible.