A woman has been cast for the first time as one of pop-culture’s most iconic sci-fi characters. Yes, I’m talking about the fact that Jodie Whittaker has been cast to play The Doctor on Doctor Who.
The Thirteenth Doctor is a woman.
Yep, in a show where women are so often there to help move the story along and help explain the brilliant mind of The Doctor, a woman is finally the lead.
There have been brilliant female characters on the show in the past. Sarah Jane Smith. Martha Jones. Rose Tyler. Donna Noble. Amy Pond. But this takes it to a whole new level.
Chris Chibnall, the show’s new head writer and executive producer said,
“I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number one choice.”
Jodie Whittaker first hit international acclaim in Broadchurch, where she played Beth Latimer, the mother of a murdered 11-year-old boy. Her character was in constant emotional turmoil, and Whittaker pulled it off with effortless realism.
The two shows share a lot of stars. David Tennant played both the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who and Detective Alec Hardy in Broadchurch. Arthur Darvill and Olivia Colman also star on both shows.
However, the internet’s reaction has been…mixed. People have been complaining about the fact that a woman has been cast in the role.
But the tweets defending the show and Whittaker are brilliant.
Yo, why are you getting your boxers in a twist over the female casting of Doctor Who? Why would we NOT have a female Doctor? TELL ME. pic.twitter.com/MH6JX7wAQy
— Sofia 🌻 (@sofiaecasanova) July 16, 2017
THE 13TH DOCTOR BETTER FUCKING HAVE POCKETS #doctor13
— Rachel Charlton-Dailey (@RachelCDailey) July 16, 2017
A FEMALE Doctor? What's next, a spaceship the size of a police box with multiple bedrooms and a swimming pool?
*is handed a note*
I see.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/CharlTaylorPage/status/886619407266582528
First ghostbusters, then Wonder Woman, then a girl alien? Whats next, female balloons? Woman sand? A girl alphabet? Women can't be balloons
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) July 16, 2017
I hope the Thirteenth Doctor gets to meet her wife River Song just to get everyone really mad. #DoctorWho13
— Jonathan Pryor (@Jonathan_Pryor) July 16, 2017
For every whiny dude saying he's done with Doctor Who, there are five women going "Well fuck, guess I'll start watching again."
— L.M. Murphy (@murphyslawyer22) July 16, 2017
Colin Baker, who played the Sixth Doctor, defended the choice in an article for The Guardian.
“The dozen or so personalities to emerge thus far from the chrysalis of regeneration have been as different as any you could pick at random on the Clapham omnibus on Gallifrey; except in one particular – gender,” he wrote.
“The world we live in has a history of male domination, of stereotyping, of resistance to change, of playing it safe. Doctor Who has never been about that. The Doctor in all his incarnations has always been a passionate defender of justice, equality, fairness and resisted those who seek to dominate or destroy.”
Time to start watching Doctor Who again.