As you have probably heard, the BBC has cast the new Doctor Who and she’s a woman! There was expected uproar from the fans for casting a female Doctor Who. The BBC manned their social media accounts and prepared for a battle. However, overall the sentiment across Twitter turned out to be far more positive than negative, welcoming Jodie Whittaker as the 13TH Doctor for the new Doctor Who season.
A female Doctor Who
The minority of fans who kicked up a storm over the Doctor Who news found it hard to cope with the idea of a female Doctor. For 36 years a male Doctor has been gracing our screens with his witty banter, extraordinary personality and out of this world adventures. So, it is understandable that die-hard fans may have trouble coming round to the idea of a female Doctor Who. However, in reality, they have no leg to stand on.
For those of you who do not class yourselves as ‘Whovians’ here is a bit of context: The Doctor is an alien who travels through space and time in a ship called the TARDIS. This Time Lord (or Time Lady) can regenerate after suffering fatal injury, through each transformation arises a new face and personality. The creators of Doctor Who produced this feature of the character to allow fresh actors to step into the role. Therefore, The Doctor has no gender, permanent form or personality. He/she/it is constantly changing.
The new Doctor Who
In the past, creator Sydney Newman had considered casting a female Doctor Who during a period of waning viewership in the 1980s. Consequently, this idea has been in the works for longer than expected. So, who is the new Doctor Who?
The part has fallen into the hands of Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker and she is over the moon. Whittaker on hearing the news that she had been cast as the new Doctor Who said:
“I didn’t faint, I just played it really cool and cried, it was incredibly emotional, because as a child, all I wanted to do was be an actor, and I wanted to do it because I wanted to play pretend, and that’s the ultimate, and I’m about to play an alien, a time lord, and as a girl. Who knew?”
Whittaker has openly discussed her feelings on the controversial matter of casting a female Doctor and believes that it is okay for Doctor Who to do something different. By the looks of things, Whittaker is as excited as we are to see a fresh new face on Doctor Who.
Reactions towards the first female Doctor Who
On July 16TH, the day of the new Doctor Who announcement, leading marketers Amobee logged 770,000 tweets around the term “Doctor Who”. It can be seen from this graph, that for tweets that discussed Whittaker, there was 39% positive and only 6% negative feedback. Amobee determined the 55% of remaining tweets were neutral.
Doctor Who’s ratings have slipped in recent years, so hopefully a fresh face and new direction will be just what the Doctor ordered! Whittaker will be making her first appearance after the current incarnation’s regeneration in the annual Doctor Who Christmas special.
It is undeniable that some fans are still fighting change in the form of diversity, but from what we gather here at The Aerial Guys, most of the population is welcoming our new Doctor Who. We certainly are!
