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Forums - General Discussion - The 13th Doctor

Jodie Whittaker has been announced as Doctor Who's 13th Time Lord - the first woman to get the role.

She was revealed in a Doctor Who trailer that was broadcast on BBC One at the end of the Wimbledon men's singles final.

The Broadchurch star succeeds Peter Capaldi, who took the role in 2013 and leaves in this year's Christmas special.

Whittaker, 35, said it was "more than an honour" to become the Doctor.

She will make her debut on the sci-fi show when the Doctor regenerates in the Christmas Day show.

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After the master uponed this door I sort of felt this was coming. I'll be curious to core fans reaction as every Doctor has it's controversies. What are your thoughts? Keep watching? Stop watching? Start watching? Ignore?



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Soooo....now we can ship the Doctor with her companion again?



It will be a very big change in dynamic, especially when you consider that the show has always been Male Doctor + Female Companion with the occasional addition, and from 2005 onwards at least there's also been the occasional romantic aspect between the two. So swapping to a female doctor... does that likely mean we'll also be getting our first male (main) companion? Not necessarily, as romance between the Doctor and his... or her... companion hasn't really been the focus or the best recieved angle for the show.

It will be a large shift, and it's going to take some getting used to, but I'm certainly willing to give it a shot. Let's just hope they don't go completely overboard on the preachy sexism messages.

I'm excited to see what Chibnall has in store for the show though after moffat fell off the bandwagon, even though he recovered a little this last season. Poor Capaldi, his run was scuppered by the writing.



I had no wish to see the new season of Doctor Who after the previous season. I knew it had begun and i just didn't care anymore.

Reading this expected news, I think i'm now really done with the series .



In the wilderness we go alone with our new knowledge and strength.

Saw a few episodes now and then... meh.
Overall my thoughts: it doesnt fit with the story.

His "soul" or whatever, always morphs into a man.
Why would it suddenly go woman? there has to be some sort of explaination if they do a shift like this.... otherwise it ll be weird from a story standpoint.

They need to explain the "why" of it.



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JRPGfan said:

Saw a few episodes now and then... meh.
Overall my thoughts: it doesnt fit with the story.

His "soul" or whatever, always morphs into a man.
Why would it suddenly go woman? there has to be some sort of explaination if they do a shift like this.... otherwise it ll be weird from a story standpoint.

They need to explain the "why" of it.

The why is simple: A Social justice warrior clan at the BBC.

So the reason why cannot be properly explained since this would break the fourth wall. I wouldn't hold much hope for a good why.



In the wilderness we go alone with our new knowledge and strength.

Well, 13 is an unlucky number. Makes sense :p



Lorewise there wasn't anything preventing this from happening. The reason it didn't happen in the 60s or 70s or 80s is rather obvious. The Doctor regenerating always brings about a change in the personality of the doctor, a change in gender is rather minor compared to that. But people will complain. Of course. And they are allowed to, even if I don't see a problem with it.

It's much more important wether the writing is actually good. New Doctor Who has been a bit of a roller coaster in terms of writing quality.



They'd obviously been easing us into the idea of swapping genders with a couple other time lord characters doing so and the Doctor mentioning a few times that he'd always wanted to be a woman.

I'll give it a shot, but this is pretty dang disappointing to me. The unavoidable truth is that gender matters a great deal to a character, how we perceive them, what events and humor seem "in good taste" and so forth, and this will almost invariably have to effect the usual dynamic between the Doctor and the companions. It could certainly work, but it doesn't seem likely that it'll be the Doctor we've come to know.

Of course, the Doctor being mostly asexual when it comes to intimate matters probably makes the transition a good deal easier. I certainly hope they prove me wrong.

Overall I understand why women need more starring roles given for decades the star was always a man, but I'd much prefer that comes in the form of new characters and shows as opposed to forcing it on a character that's been a man for decades. It's not the end of the world, but it's not ideal either.

Otherwise I'm a little surprised that Capaldi isn't getting one more season, as I'd heard he really wanted one.



I'm honestly quite excited about it, she seems to have good acting chops, though I'm not too familiar with her work.
I've been recommended Broadchurch, Attack the Block and The Entire History of You (from Black Mirror).

As an aside, it is quite hilarious to see crybabies' reaction to this. Undignified as ever