Well I think it's a stupid decision, understandable in these PC times but stupid nonetheless. I don't think it is sexist to say that the Doctor has a specific gender.
In what way is it stupid?
It seems to have garnered a huge amount of publicity. Many, many fans are delighted at the appointment. It's likely to boost viewing figures, which the BBC can use to feed into whatever tea-time weekend slots they want to enhance. She's a great actor. She's closer in age to the core Dr Who viewership than many of the previous doctors. And she'll be playing a several hundred year old, time-travelling, two-hearted alien, who traverses the universe in a 1950s British police box, uses a sonic screwdriver and fights daleks and cybermen: do you not think belief suspension could be stretched to accommodate a different gender too?
Why do you think it's stupid, when many people would call it incredibly astute?
Well I think it's a stupid decision, understandable in these PC times but stupid nonetheless. I don't think it is sexist to say that the Doctor has a specific gender.
In what way is it stupid?
It seems to have garnered a huge amount of publicity. Many, many fans are delighted at the appointment. It's likely to boost viewing figures, which the BBC can use to feed into whatever tea-time weekend slots they want to enhance. She's a great actor. She's closer in age to the core Dr Who viewership than many of the previous doctors. And she'll be playing a several hundred year old, time-travelling, two-hearted alien, who traverses the universe in a 1950s British police box, uses a sonic screwdriver and fights daleks and cybermen: do you not think belief suspension could be stretched to accommodate a different gender too?
Why do you think it's stupid, when many people would call it incredibly astute?
Opinions are like arseholes - everyone's got one. That's just my opinion. I've got to say though, I like the way you have put your argument (particularly the bit in bold). Whatever the hell am I worried about when all that is going on???
Well I think it's a stupid decision, understandable in these PC times but stupid nonetheless. I don't think it is sexist to say that the Doctor has a specific gender.
Perhaps they could build it into the storyline: The doctor regenerates as a man, but is actually transgender and operates on himself to change his gender. You could make a whole flashback-based episode where he keeps getting it wrong and has to go back again to perfect the surgery. I'll give you that one, Terry Nation. Or whoever writes it nowadays.
Then again, with the clever use of psychic paper she could save the surgery make her birth certificate say whatever she wants.
Well I think it's a stupid decision, understandable in these PC times but stupid nonetheless. I don't think it is sexist to say that the Doctor has a specific gender.
The Doctor is an imaginary 2000 year old alien with two hearts who "regenerates" every couple of years.
Well I think it's a stupid decision, understandable in these PC times but stupid nonetheless. I don't think it is sexist to say that the Doctor has a specific gender.
The Doctor is an imaginary 2000 year old alien with two hearts who "regenerates" every couple of years.
But you think he has a specific gender?
Edit chizz said it better already
He, he - you called the Doctor "he"!
I have acknowledged the artistry of the reply from Chizz above. ;-)
A bad move in my opinion. I've got no issue with Missy or River Song leading a series as the main character I just believe The Doctor should remain a male character as that's his character that's who he is.
The Master regenerating into Missy was done to prepare us for this.
From what I've read online I can see a serious drop in ratings even with any new fans attracted to watch. I'd be surprised if she lasts beyond one series.
I know it sounds a bit churlish but most of Doctor Who (ignoring time travel) can be explained with advances in technology and the understanding that comes with it.
Most of the more outrageous things were established decades ago - time travel ,the dimensions of the Tardis, regeneration, the Police Box form, the longevity of the race known as the Time Lords.
There was never any mention of swapping gender - I'm not aware of any species on Earth that does it, nor do I remember any story having this in the past.
All that becomes irrelevant though as his is Science Fiction or even Science Fantasy. There are, clearly, no rules to it - some of the $hit we been asked to swallow aver the last five years has been riddiclous. The way 'baddies' die off only to come back again is a great example.
That said it was always given licence to make any thing up due to the nature of the show.
I have to confess, though, that I wasn't comfortable with the Master becoming a woman. Even though I love the actress and the character was so well written and was funny and menacing at the same time. I would have preferred that 'Missy' were a completely different character all together. There have been some Time Ladies over the years and they haven't been all good. The stories could well have been with a different character with the same actress acting in, exactly, the same way.
My first thought when I read the rumours that it was going to be Jodie was that I would prefer if they kept to the 'tried and trusted' formula that has worked for over fifty years and made this my favourite TV show for most of my life. I love TV shows where women are the main protagonists. I think that the new Ghostbusters movie was fantastic, I think that having a female lead in the new Star Wars trilogy is, also, fantastic.
However, and I'm not going to throw my toys out of my pram, I would have preferred that this TV show stuck to a male protagonist. Again I'm not saying this for effect, even though as I write this I can imagine being called sexist and worse, but I'm not sure I'm all that bothered about watching it any more.
Now that my son is a teenager And knows that Santa doesn't exist watching Doctor Who at Christmas has been a highlight of the day. I've been underwhelmed with the 12th Doctor and found some of the story lines to be poor. Maybe it's time to give it a rest for a while.
I would be interested to see just how many of those that are so pleased that it's a woman have been watching it for years or have any intention of watching it in the future. Otherwise it's a bit like asking people that don't follow football to decide if KM, as a woman, is a great CEO for Charlton.
As I'm confident, based on recent posts, that I will get abuse for my view I will not look to follow up if people disagree with me. They are only different opinions, after all.
A bad move in my opinion. I've got no issue with Missy or River Song leading a series as the main character I just believe The Doctor should remain a male character as that's his character that's who he is.
The Master regenerating into Missy was done to prepare us for this.
From what I've read online I can see a serious drop in ratings even with any new fans attracted to watch. I'd be surprised if she lasts beyond one series.
Ratings have been dropping anyway, whoever they chose today, there would be a hostile reaction from some quarters.
It's definitely a risk, but the alternative of a more status quo Doctor would also be a risk, as there's a danger of stagnation
A bad move in my opinion. I've got no issue with Missy or River Song leading a series as the main character I just believe The Doctor should remain a male character as that's his character that's who he is.
The Master regenerating into Missy was done to prepare us for this.
From what I've read online I can see a serious drop in ratings even with any new fans attracted to watch. I'd be surprised if she lasts beyond one series.
Ratings have been dropping anyway, whoever they chose today, there would be a hostile reaction from some quarters.
It's definitely a risk, but the alternative of a more status quo Doctor would also be a risk, as there's a danger of stagnation
It's a risk indeed. Extremely high risk and yes while ratings have dropped anyway as Kings Hill said, maybe it would have been a good time for a break from the show. Personally I'll be taking my own break from the show after the Christmas special.
I was an avid watcher of Dr Who as a child (who wasn't) - but that was the in the 70's when we had John Pertwee & then Tom Baker - Peter Davidson was ok but then it all then fell apart once Syvester McCoy landed the roll. I lost touch after that & only really started re-watching it again over the past few years when the kids got into it. I've now watched a lot of the past 3 doctor's series & really enjoyed Matt Smith & especially David Tennant but peter Capaldi never really cut it for me. I think this new Doctor will be a breath of fresh air & didn't realise who the actress was from the picture shown on the Tv today until they said she was in Broadchurch - looks different with blond hair - just hope she keeps her West Country burr.......
Can I just say? Despite my previous (lighthearted) comment on this thread. I actually don't give a monkeys whether Doctor Who is male, female, transgender or a member of Black lesbians against the Whale. The programme is shite and has been since they stopped filming it in a chalk quarry in Northfleet or the same studio used for Crossroads, you know the one with wobbly walls and lighting gantry's showing above.
In my opinion ........................................ obviously.
A bad move in my opinion. I've got no issue with Missy or River Song leading a series as the main character I just believe The Doctor should remain a male character as that's his character that's who he is.
The Master regenerating into Missy was done to prepare us for this.
From what I've read online I can see a serious drop in ratings even with any new fans attracted to watch. I'd be surprised if she lasts beyond one series.
Ratings have been dropping anyway, whoever they chose today, there would be a hostile reaction from some quarters.
It's definitely a risk, but the alternative of a more status quo Doctor would also be a risk, as there's a danger of stagnation
I think ratings have taken a hit because Peter Capaldi, great actor as he is, was too old for the target audience. It's a young man's (and woman's) show these days. David Tennant and Matt Smith were young and dynamic. The recent stories have been way too complicated for children and, frankly, much less fun to watch.
It was time for a much younger Doctor - frankly, in my view, the Capaldi decision was just a mistake. Switching gender is something different all together. There was a suggestion that 'Nick' from 'My Family' was going to get the job. I think he would have been fantastic.
I fear for the ratings going forward but, in reality, if they are going to make something that the public don't want to watch, then the ratings become unimportant as, even, the BBC can't continue to make stuff that no one wants to watch.
I think the more important change is the producer and hopefully some new writers too. Doctor Who has been disappearing up its bunghole for a while now - it needs shaking up.
A bad move in my opinion. I've got no issue with Missy or River Song leading a series as the main character I just believe The Doctor should remain a male character as that's his character that's who he is.
The Master regenerating into Missy was done to prepare us for this.
From what I've read online I can see a serious drop in ratings even with any new fans attracted to watch. I'd be surprised if she lasts beyond one series.
Ratings have been dropping anyway, whoever they chose today, there would be a hostile reaction from some quarters.
It's definitely a risk, but the alternative of a more status quo Doctor would also be a risk, as there's a danger of stagnation
I think ratings have taken a hit because Peter Capaldi, great actor as he is, was too old for the target audience. It's a young man's (and woman's) show these days. David Tennant and Matt Smith were young and dynamic. The recent stories have been way too complicated for children and, frankly, much less fun to watch.
It was time for a much younger Doctor - frankly, in my view, the Capaldi decision was just a mistake. Switching gender is something different all together. There was a suggestion that 'Nick' from 'My Family' was going to get the job. I think he would have been fantastic.
I fear for the ratings going forward but, in reality, if they are going to make something that the public don't want to watch, then the ratings become unimportant as, even, the BBC can't continue to make stuff that no one wants to watch.
Ok, ok, but how old was William Hartnell when this whole thing started? What's age got to do with it? Why does the Doctor have to be young to engage the imaginations of the young? I thought Peter Capaldi was great as the Doctor, maybe let down by the scripts, but he was great in the role (having said that, I am quite obviously, an old git).
If you'd asked me 20 years ago if The Doctor should be female I'd have been adamant that the character be a man. Times change though and I accept I am not the target audience for the show. Secondly, society and the new core audience they want to attract are far more flexible in their approach to gender. My daughter was delighted to hear the news and they will bring her back in as a fan. Unfortunately Capaldi was to old for the role and a lot of fans who idolised Tennent and Smith moved on. The Doctor as a man with a female sidekick got a bit tired. They relied to much on romantic chemistry which was repeated endlessly. Capaldi played the grandfather figure to his companions and in the modern age it simply wasn't appealing to its audience.
Since the show was rebooted the main assistant has been the audiences way into the show. The female sidekicks have essentially been the lead character. If they stick to that philosophy then a male character will be more of a focus with a female doctor. So everybody wins.
I thought he (Capaldi) was too old to play the kind of Doctor we have got used to since the show came back in 2005 and my son, who is 13, says that he, and his friends at school, didn't like him.
Who am I to second guess teenagers?
The show was very different with a 50+ year old lead than the two before that were just either side of 30 when they started.
Maybe the scripts were the problem, maybe the scrips were tailored to an old bloke - by comparison.
Either way the show failed to grab the imagination of many and my son watches the current ones every week but still goes back to watch the Tennent and Smith shows again. I'm not sure he's watched any of the Capaldi episodes more than once.
I guess, at the end of the day, it depends what the main goal of the BBC is. If it's to increase viewing figures and/or sell DVD box sets and toys then they need to make the show appeal to youngsters. If they want to advance some policital and/or social agenda then the show doesn't need to appeal to more than the bare minimum to keep it on the air.
The finale was good but Dr Who doesn't work when it tries to be too clever IMO. Nothing against a woman doctor, if you have a problem with that and not a police box travelling within time and space it doesn't make sense. The question is how good is her material going to be.
Comments
It seems to have garnered a huge amount of publicity. Many, many fans are delighted at the appointment. It's likely to boost viewing figures, which the BBC can use to feed into whatever tea-time weekend slots they want to enhance. She's a great actor. She's closer in age to the core Dr Who viewership than many of the previous doctors. And she'll be playing a several hundred year old, time-travelling, two-hearted alien, who traverses the universe in a 1950s British police box, uses a sonic screwdriver and fights daleks and cybermen: do you not think belief suspension could be stretched to accommodate a different gender too?
Why do you think it's stupid, when many people would call it incredibly astute?
Then again, with the clever use of psychic paper she could save the surgery make her birth certificate say whatever she wants.
But you think he has a specific gender?
Edit chizz said it better already
I have acknowledged the artistry of the reply from Chizz above. ;-)
What does Jeremy say?
Ultimately, the important thing is to get the character right, as each Doctor has been different from the previous one
The Master regenerating into Missy was done to prepare us for this.
From what I've read online I can see a serious drop in ratings even with any new fans attracted to watch. I'd be surprised if she lasts beyond one series.
Most of the more outrageous things were established decades ago - time travel ,the dimensions of the Tardis, regeneration, the Police Box form, the longevity of the race known as the Time Lords.
There was never any mention of swapping gender - I'm not aware of any species on Earth that does it, nor do I remember any story having this in the past.
All that becomes irrelevant though as his is Science Fiction or even Science Fantasy. There are, clearly, no rules to it - some of the $hit we been asked to swallow aver the last five years has been riddiclous. The way 'baddies' die off only to come back again is a great example.
That said it was always given licence to make any thing up due to the nature of the show.
I have to confess, though, that I wasn't comfortable with the Master becoming a woman. Even though I love the actress and the character was so well written and was funny and menacing at the same time. I would have preferred that 'Missy' were a completely different character all together. There have been some Time Ladies over the years and they haven't been all good. The stories could well have been with a different character with the same actress acting in, exactly, the same way.
My first thought when I read the rumours that it was going to be Jodie was that I would prefer if they kept to the 'tried and trusted' formula that has worked for over fifty years and made this my favourite TV show for most of my life. I love TV shows where women are the main protagonists. I think that the new Ghostbusters movie was fantastic, I think that having a female lead in the new Star Wars trilogy is, also, fantastic.
However, and I'm not going to throw my toys out of my pram, I would have preferred that this TV show stuck to a male protagonist. Again I'm not saying this for effect, even though as I write this I can imagine being called sexist and worse, but I'm not sure I'm all that bothered about watching it any more.
Now that my son is a teenager And knows that Santa doesn't exist watching Doctor Who at Christmas has been a highlight of the day. I've been underwhelmed with the 12th Doctor and found some of the story lines to be poor. Maybe it's time to give it a rest for a while.
I would be interested to see just how many of those that are so pleased that it's a woman have been watching it for years or have any intention of watching it in the future. Otherwise it's a bit like asking people that don't follow football to decide if KM, as a woman, is a great CEO for Charlton.
As I'm confident, based on recent posts, that I will get abuse for my view I will not look to follow up if people disagree with me. They are only different opinions, after all.
It's definitely a risk, but the alternative of a more status quo Doctor would also be a risk, as there's a danger of stagnation
Oddly, given the nature of the show, change is rarely popular. Until it is.
The programme is shite and has been since they stopped filming it in a chalk quarry in Northfleet or the same studio used for Crossroads, you know the one with wobbly walls and lighting gantry's showing above.
In my opinion ........................................ obviously.
It was time for a much younger Doctor - frankly, in my view, the Capaldi decision was just a mistake. Switching gender is something different all together. There was a suggestion that 'Nick' from 'My Family' was going to get the job. I think he would have been fantastic.
I fear for the ratings going forward but, in reality, if they are going to make something that the public don't want to watch, then the ratings become unimportant as, even, the BBC can't continue to make stuff that no one wants to watch.
Times change though and I accept I am not the target audience for the show. Secondly, society and the new core audience they want to attract are far more flexible in their approach to gender. My daughter was delighted to hear the news and they will bring her back in as a fan. Unfortunately Capaldi was to old for the role and a lot of fans who idolised Tennent and Smith moved on.
The Doctor as a man with a female sidekick got a bit tired. They relied to much on romantic chemistry which was repeated endlessly.
Capaldi played the grandfather figure to his companions and in the modern age it simply wasn't appealing to its audience.
Since the show was rebooted the main assistant has been the audiences way into the show. The female sidekicks have essentially been the lead character. If they stick to that philosophy then a male character will be more of a focus with a female doctor. So everybody wins.
Who am I to second guess teenagers?
The show was very different with a 50+ year old lead than the two before that were just either side of 30 when they started.
Maybe the scripts were the problem, maybe the scrips were tailored to an old bloke - by comparison.
Either way the show failed to grab the imagination of many and my son watches the current ones every week but still goes back to watch the Tennent and Smith shows again. I'm not sure he's watched any of the Capaldi episodes more than once.
I guess, at the end of the day, it depends what the main goal of the BBC is. If it's to increase viewing figures and/or sell DVD box sets and toys then they need to make the show appeal to youngsters. If they want to advance some policital and/or social agenda then the show doesn't need to appeal to more than the bare minimum to keep it on the air.
The female doctor has been on the cards for a while. It will be interesting to see how she plays it.
The Lord of Mann, a title currently held by the Queen of the United Kingdom, and female Lord Mayors are examples of women who are styled Lord.
Obviously 'Time Lord' is now also gender neutral, which is just as well as 'Time Lady' has a distinctly dodgy ring to it.