14th Female Doctor for the wrong reason not the right

[Jo Zebedee]

So....

About this female creature (an alien apparently) who's now purporting to be Dr Who.

Any thoughts anybody?

I think we've all put in a lot of thoughts on that.

But discussing Dr Who being a female on a sff forum without there being discussion around things like is it bowing to the PC crowd, is it a sign of wider feminism in the genre (and ergo what is feminism), is it something that is seen as losing a male role model, then it's going to be a very short conversation missing most of the nuances underlying SFF fandom (which is toxic)* at the moment *the latest is Chuck Wendig being fired from SW either because of his SM presence or his politics, depending who you listen to. On a SFF forum, it's hard to see what we should talk about within this subject without getting into the wider aspects of the change.

 

[SilentRoamer]

Anyway one should always see the good in life - so if there are little girls out there now watching SF and joining our little world of space ships and wizards then all the power to them and I said before I wish Foster the best in the role. If I ever get through the Capaldi era stuff I will give the new DR a watch.

 

[nixie]

Within a few minutes of the first episode, I stopped thinking of Jodie as a woman she was the doctor

 

[Danny McG]

Within a few minutes of the first episode, I stopped thinking of Jodie as a woman she was the doctor

Think it's time K9 returned as the companion. (Or maybe a unicorn)

 

[Dave]

Just specifically regarding the phrase "It's about Time!" - I'm fairly sure that it was used frequently during the David Tennant tenure, and so long before a female Doctor was imagined. "About Time" was also the title of a lacklustre Richard Curtis 2013 film. - So, its use is something already tied to the genre and to Doctor Who. I'm sure the advertising person thought it was a jolly wheeze to use it again on the poster because there was a female Doctor, rather than thinking that they were going to make any cutting political remark. To be brutally honest, I doubt it even crossed their mind.

On the other stuff, I think you must have covered it fairly comprehensively in eight pages now. There is still inequality among the sexes. Women are still not represented in many workplaces and their pay still lags behind men. Women do the majority of household cleaning, cooking and child rearing tasks and even today you have dinosaurs like Piers Morgan saying that Daniel Craig is somehow "emasculated" because he carries his child in a papoose. However, there is also male rape, wives do beat their husbands and Misandry does exist as well as Misogyny.

Attempts to alter the male-dominated status quo by positive discrimination are self-defeating if poorer qualified and inexperienced women are given roles ahead of better men. People should only be chosen on their own merit. However, what any of this has to do with the actor playing Doctor Who is quite beyond me. As far as I can see, she has already made the role her own.

 

[Brian G Turner]

By the comments in the first two episode threads, it's been a successful reboot so far - even against all expectations.

 

[Matteo]

I hesitate to post this, but...

Last night, my train was delayed and I couldn't reach my wife to let her know - I kept getting her voice mail.

(some of you are probably way ahead of me)

Turns out her phone was out of battery.

Again. Grrrr.

I picked up the car from the car park, drove through the traffic to pick her up (half an hour later than expected) and the first thing she said was:

It's about time you showed up. I was beginning to get worried.

She wondered why I burst out laughing...

 

[Dave]

By the comments in the first two episode threads, it's been a successful reboot so far - even against all expectations.

This probably should be in another thread, but I never expected Dr Who to fail with the new actor (and I expect that many of those complaining about the choice don't actually watch it regularly anyway.) However, I was beginning to wonder whether the BBC themselves had some doubts - due to the endless, endless advertising, and the move to a Sunday evening. What I forgot was that when it was brought back with Eccleston, that was on a Sunday evening. They must have audience research that Sunday is a good day for it. They only moved it to Saturday when it become phenomenally popular and they wanted something to compete with the strong ITV schedule at that time.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Brian, too early to say, I think. It hasn't exploded on launch, but we'll have to see how it goes.

Must be honest, I'd probably stop watching if I weren't enjoying arguing about it

 

[Dan Jones]

This probably should be in another thread, but I never expected Dr Who to fail with the new actor (and I expect that many of those complaining about the choice don't actually watch it regularly anyway.) However, I was beginning to wonder whether the BBC themselves had some doubts - due to the endless, endless advertising, and the move to a Sunday evening. What I forgot was that when it was brought back with Eccleston, that was on a Sunday evening. They must have audience research that Sunday is a good day for it. They only moved it to Saturday when it become phenomenally popular and they wanted something to compete with the strong ITV schedule at that time.

Good point about the scheduling. Plus apparently the ratings for X factor have bombed so the Beeb probably don't need to bulk up Saturday as much, and they can concentrate on the interminable slog that is the early rounds of Strictly.

I can't remember which poster said it, but I'm of the opinion that given what/who the Doctor is, it really is of little import whether s/he adopts a male or female appearance.

However, I also agree with @thebigpeat that rather than hand male roles to women, which can come across as controversialist at best and unconvincing/clunky at worst, there should be more, better original female roles.

It's not impossible. My favourite (or, certainly in the top three) TV show of 2018 has been Killing Eve. It features two magnificent lead characters who are sufficiently strong that they don't need to make a show of the fact that they're women; a fabulous screenwriter in Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and is truly original. Plus, Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh - I think I'm a little in love with both of them! More of that sort of thing IMO is infinitely preferable to getting everyone worked up as to whether Postman Pat should become Postman Pam or whatever.

All of which is not to say that Jodie Whitaker isn't doing a fab job as the Doctor, either, because she definitely is.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I was wondering today if we had an old thread bemoaning the change in gender for Starbuck when Battlestar Galactica rebooted - but I doubt there are many people who would continue that objection.

 

[Phyrebrat]

But Starbuck doesn’t regenerate so it was even more of a chance. Also: stupid fans are stupid

But Katee Sackhof was outstanding and shut them up.

pH

 

[nixie]

@Dan Jones I loved Killing Eve, binged watched it over a couple of nights.

 

[Bagpuss]

when it was brought back with Eccleston, that was on a Sunday evening.

Erm, no it wasn't. "Rose" was first broadcast by the BBC on 26 March 2005, which was a Saturday. The rest of the series continued on Saturday evenings.

 

[Anthoney]

In the US Saturday is the weakest night for TV. It's a place to burn off shows that have already been canceled, old movies or experimental stuff. Doctor Who was the only good thing (IMO) Saturdays in the entire 21st century. Sunday nights are one of the strongest TV nights. So in the US the move makes sense except what the heck am I going to watch on Saturdays.

 

[Dave]

Erm, no it wasn't. "Rose" was first broadcast by the BBC on 26 March 2005, which was a Saturday. The rest of the series continued on Saturday evenings.

Sorry, I read that online somewhere and have now forgotten where. I think it was a reputable newspaper. It is too long ago for me to actually remember. it also shows that you cannot believe anything you read on the internet.

 

[Dave]

I was wondering today if we had an old thread bemoaning the change in gender for Starbuck when Battlestar Galactica rebooted - but I doubt there are many people who would continue that objection.

Oh! Yes, there were plenty, but I think the complaints were a minor subscript to the very notion of rebooting it at all. I could go and search the Battlestar Galactica forum for examples but haven't got the spare time. They were completely swamped by the fans of the new series once it got going.

 

[Anthoney]

I always thought that Dirk Benedict and Kate Sackhoff could have been twins. Still there was a bunch of crybabies back then. Digital Spy has it listed here. 7 of the most controversial changes made in TV remakes

 

[Cathbad]

you cannot believe anything you read on the internet

*goes into shock*

 

[Cathbad]

I never saw the series. Was she also a womanizer?