Because Time Lords can regenerate into any gender or race. Simple as that. There is no permanent gendered soul or anything. What dictates the next regeneration is his race, and not anything else.

Surely this was going to happen eventually, they left themselves open to it story wise. It was only a matter of time until they pull the trigger. I'm looking forward to it as hopefully the writers can now do some different things now they have some new tools to work with. 

Also, they've already had a timelord regenerate into a different gender. 

I was almost hoping they'd take a break after Capaldi.

I've adored his Doctor and it really seems like a Doctor that ought to face some legitimate mortality... He's become absolutely exhausted mentally and spiritually, has revealed that all of these experiences have knocked a few more screws loose, isn't even certain if he's a good person overall, and has demonstrated the positively insane lengths he'll go to in order to "win".

I absolutely loved the Hell Bent and Heaven Set development of his character, revealing he's willing to threaten his enemies when pushed and likely willing to follow through if not ordered not to do so by Clara (such as to Maisie's character). It was also cool to get a peek into his mind to see how it is he always finds a solution to every crisis, and his unwillingness to just die and "let them win" really drove home that the Doctor is something different from other Time Lords. Even they continue to refer to him only as the Doctor, fearing him as if they understand something most of us do not. I also rather enjoyed the use of the Bootstrap Paradox, revealing that it is Clara who whispered some monumentally important guiding principles into his ear that he himself later went on to teach her.

Heaven Sent was a clear favorite for me, but there were a few other great ones too... I believe his speech to the humans and Zygons was one of the greatest moments in Doctor Who, and whatever room was left to win me over was earned right there.

I'm going to miss him... his character just has the feel of someone who ought to die in a sacrificial manner or something; he's so frayed, damaged and exhausted that I just don't see how you replace all of that with a newer, happier model, unless she winds up having a similar disposition (which would be kind of boring). I'd read that Capaldi loves the character and wanted to do a fourth season, so this comes as rather a disappointment to me; I just feel like he's going out on the weakest narrative arc of his three seasons right now.

Nice, I think she's a pretty decent actress and I can't wait to see what she can bring to the Doctor character. It'd interesting to see the first female in the role. What a pressure for her, Internet is already exploding with these news.

If someone hasn't been following the show recently, it was well established, and it's not canon-breaking that the Doctor could be a female, just saying. So, let her do her best, and see if she can deliver.

But what a hard job after the fantastic take that Capaldi made of the character, bringing again that classic, "alien" feeling after the humanized take on the Character by Eccleston, Tennant and Smith. The character was explored in several ways in the last three seasons, from the "good man" arch of season 8, to the "broken hero" in season 9, and more recently, his willingness to let go everything and stop regenerating. Season 8 was a bit uneven though, and the arc resolution was far from stellar, but series 9 was, arguably, the best DW season. Except for one episode, the rest of them were really excellent.

Heaven Sent remains as my favourite DW episode, and Capaldi skills in that episode, just, maaaaan... The wall-punching scene was the most emotional the show has got imho. His speech in The Zygon Inversion? I cried during that speech. The way he delivered it was fantastic. The 4th-wall breaking in Under the Lake. The wonderful take on inmortality in The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived. Well, that was THE season. Bloody brilliant.

Season 10 was decent, it hasn't got a single episode I dislike, but it was weaker than the previous one. Still, the finale was astonishing. And Capaldi shines in that episode, again. DW best moments are... the quiet ones. And he surely knows how to act. Congrats to Pearl Mackie too because she was probably the best companion since Donna. Just an earthy girl, without any plot device to keep her character going (Clara, Amy, I'm looking at you! XD).

Oh, I'll miss him a lot. And what about the, imho, best DW showrunner since Hinchcliffe? Thanks for everything you did for this show, Moffat. I feel like the man is controversial, to say the least, but, well, I can probably say that the best modern run episodes were his doing. Blink. Girl in the Fireplace. World Enough and Time. Heaven Sent. The Day of the Doctor. Extremis. Listen. What the hell, I can't understand why is he constantly bashed. Let's hope that Chibnal could bring all of the fandom together again though, and everyone can enjoy the show from now on. Exciting times.

Sensitive much? Why is it a problem if the producers feel that it's time to have a woman as the doctor as long as they do it properly within the storyline? Doctor Who is all about breaking molds and pushing boundaries so if they can fit it in, it shouldn't be bad, right?

Also, female doctors shouldn't be strange at all, it should be as common as male doctors in the lore, right?

It's not bad (actually, the show is JUST about change, so it's really fitting), and the fact that some people are saying that gender-bending doesn't fit in the DW world, is what tells me that they haven't been following the show in the last 3, 4 years XD.

Also, I think that we have to acknowledge now that DW is a pretty political show at times. Hell, it has a brutal capitalism criticism in the last season XD. So, yeah, it's just the right time to have a woman in the role. 

Totally agree 🙂.

Well I guess Moffat got what he wanted and ended the final twist of the badly written knife of his.



The current season bored me half to death and was losing my general interest, but this turn of events is telling me that it's time to watch something else.

I'll probably check back on the show in another 5-10 years time, if it's even still around and trying something else other than pandering to a specific group.

Pond was best companion though.

I see absolutely nothing wrong, quite the opposite, I'm curious to see how this works and it does makes since theorically the doctor can reincarnate itself on a woman