I've been a fan of Doctor Who since around 2009, right when Matt Smith began his run as the Eleventh Doctor. Recently, the BBC announced the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth, being the first woman to officially play the part in canon. Many have praised the BBC for finally casting a female Doctor Who, and it is widely reported that she is the thirteenth actor to play the role. Jodie Whittaker is a great actress, but she cannot play a character named “Doctor Who” - simply because there is no such character with that name. Peter Cushing played a human named “Dr. Who” in the 1960s film adaptations that had little to do with the original show. She is the Thirteenth Doctor, and the eighteenth (give or take) to play the role in the show. Almost had you thinking this was an anti-Whittaker artcile, didn't I? Well, in reality, I'm totally in favor of the casting, so long as the writing team remembers what makes the Doctor who he/she is.
The Doctor has
been played by several actors in the series' fifty-four year history,
with major stars such as John Hurt and David Tennant taking on the
role. In that time, each actor has brought their own take on who the
Doctor is, but some aspects have stayed consistent – his care for
humanity, sense of adventure and wonder, and a drive to save people
in any way he can. These changes in actors are brought on via an
aspect of the series called “regeneration,” where due to the
Doctor's alien biology (being of the Time Lord species), when he is
fatally injured or somehow otherwise dying, his body changes form
into a new, healthy one. This prevents the need to reboot the show
every few years, and gives the production team an easy way to explain
a new actor in either the main role or another Time Lord role.
Regenerations are always a controversial occurrence within the Doctor
Who fandom, going back to 1966. It follows a cycle of hating the new
actor, giving them a few episodes, liking the new Doctor, loving him,
then being sad to see them go, and back to hating the new actor.
Everybody has their favorite Doctor, and if the current one is the
favorite, then a regeneration is even worse. Of course, these used to
just be a surprise, but once the show started picking up in
popularity, the BBC began to announce the next Doctor in advance –
mostly to drive up hype. This time, the change was highly publicized
and once the announcement was made, it divided the fandom between
those who like it and those who hate.
One of the
defining aspects of the Doctor is that he is not perfect. Oftentimes,
his companions have to step in to help him get back on the right
track or even save humanity when the Doctor has no idea of how to
stop the monster of the week. Of course, usually the companion is a
human woman, somewhere between the ages of 18 and 30, though there
are many exceptions. One could make the argument that the companion
is actually the main character and the Doctor a vehicle for them to
travel with, and many companions themselves are on par with previous
incarnations of the Doctor among fans (Romana, Rose Tyler, etc.)With
Jodie Whittaker now in the headlining role, the writers working on
her episodes must remember that even though they're in a new
territory, they cannot make the Doctor always right and doing the
best thing every single time – because then we'll end up with an
even more arrogant Doctor, thus removing the purpose for a companion.
One of the major controversies about the 2016 Ghostbusters
reboot was that all the male characters were portrayed as stupid or
evil, whereas the main four leads were the only competent ones. This
is something that showrunner Chris Chibnall will have to avoid
falling to, and instead continue to write the character has they have
been for the last fifty-four years. The Doctor makes mistakes, the
Doctor isn't always right. Changing that trait to avoid accusations
of sexism would be changing the entire series.
Of course, a
female Doctor means that the role model status of the character has
changed. In the past, the Doctor stood out on television as a male
action hero who didn't use guns or his fists to solve problems, but
his mind. When he did resort to actually fighting in the Time War, he
did not go by the name of “the Doctor,” as he was no longer the
same person, literally and figuratively. For years, young boys could
look at the programme and see that he just saved the universe without
having to beat someone up. Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison is
critical of this change for those exact reasons – which is a
totally fair argument. Young girls have usually had the companion,
and as said above, the companion is the one who is the real focus of
the programme. Despite this, the specific requirements of the Doctor
are very unlikely to be altered – kind, travels in the TARDIS, uses
brain over brawn. Chibnall knows this, and because of the popularity of the character and the show itself, nothing will change in that regard, but maybe it will lead to more young girls looking up to the Doctor than in previous incarnations.
If you notice, I
refered to the Doctor as “he” more often than “she.” I do
that simply because in his previous thirteen incarnations, the Doctor
was male, played by male actors. It should also be clearly noted that
Whittaker has not given a complete first appearance as the Time Lord,
and not counting the regeneration in the upcoming Christmas special,
won't until spring or fall of next year. The promotional images of
her Doctor are not reflective of the final design, as she is still in
the clothing of the Twelfth Doctor – so the hoodie/jacket
combination won't be her actual costume as the Doctor. Many are
excited for a female Doctor, many are not. Others don't care who
plays the Doctor so long as the writing is good and the actor does
justice to the part. I find myself in the second camp. If Chris
Chibnall and the writing team can give her some good material, she
could go down as one of the best Doctors. But that too is subjective
– some like Tom Baker, others like David Tennant, my personal
favorite is John Hurt. Doctor Who is a series that is always
trying to be different from the usual storylines on television, and
maybe this will help them go in a new direction. And if the
Thirteenth Doctor isn't as good as they had hoped, they can easily
replace her – and yes, that is true of every Doctor since the
beginning, as they fired Colin Baker back in the late 1980s. Until
December, Peter Capaldi is still the Doctor. After that, Jodie
Whittaker takes over and we wait to see what she does with the
character. I'm excited to see the new take, and who knows, maybe
she'll be one of the best Doctors. Only time will tell.