Just had to post this… Jodie Whittaker is to be the 13th Doctor. They finally did it and I have to say I’m looking forward to next season more than I was.
Huh. If they brought Bill back, which I don’t think they will, that’d make for an interesting dynamic. Not sure they’d go there, but… Another interesting thought is what they’ll do with the companion(s).
Well, Ms Whittaker was in Attack the Block, so she should be used to running and aliens.
Witches and Ray-Guns 
Equality! Finally lol
I’m certainly pleased to see the role go to a woman, though I think I’d have preferred someone a bit older. Maybe Harriet Walter, for example – if she was interested. Still, it’ll be interesting to see what Jodie Whittaker does with it.
The next question is who the companion will be. I’m guessing that it’ll be a man. I just hope that they’re not as wet as some male companions have been.
I’m assuming a male companion, though I don’t think it’s a total given. Maybe one of each, or something alien (unlikely, as the companion is primarily there to be us).
I think the more recent male companions have been fairly worthwhile. They have tended to start out a bet wet, but they’ve generally ended up badasses.
Plus, of course, the wettest of all companions (old series here) became somewhat beloved when he killed a cyberman with his merit badge and then sacrificed himself to save the world (and coincidentally kill the dinosaurs).
I’m good with the decision of a female Doctor. I was kind of hoping it would somehow end up being Michelle Gomez playing the role (it’s scifi after all and they could do a meld or something). Bill returning WOULD be an interesting dynamic but I doubt the Beeb is going to go there this time.
I do prefer older actors playing the Doctor, Capaldi was just about perfect for me, he reminded me a lot of Jon Pertwee.
You know, she’s 35. From my point of view, she’s a stripling. If this were Hollywood she’d be doing character roles, assuming they let her do anything.
Pertwee was a little younger than Capaldi when they got the parts (50s for both), Tom Baker was 40, David Tennant was 34, Matt Smith was 28. So, No 13 isn’t that young for the modern set. (This all assumes my maths is correct. And I’m ignoring one very prestigious actor who played the part for a time…)
Honestly, I think it’s going to depend entirely on the character they come up with, not on the age, or sex, of the performer. Let’s just hope 13 isn’t an unlucky number.
You are forgetting Peter Davison – he was 29 when he took over from Tom Baker…
As you say – age, sex, race are all irrelevant. What matters is the writing and characterisation.
Actually, I remember Davison’s run rather fondly. But maybe that was Tegan. I’d have looked him up, but the name wouldn’t come to mind.
I agree about the character is important. Will the 13th doctor be erudite, timid or bossy? Confused by the sex change? Heroic? Oh and I also agree, 35 isn’t young for their target demographic.
So we’ve established that the Doctor is:
(a) a time-traveller; and
(b) male and female at different stages of his/her life.
I wonder if the Time Lord reproductive process similar to that of humans.
Have you read Robert A. Heinlein’s short story “All you zombies-“?
I haven’t. I think it’s a given that the basic reproductive cycle is similar to the human one. I’d imagine that a regeneration would end any pregnancy in progress, even if it went female to female. Just the energies involved. The bleed-off from a regeneration has almost trashed the TARDIS at least once.
I think asserting that a Time Lord will be both genders at various points is off. They could be, but maybe not. The Doctor went through a full set of normal regenerations without a change. He’s on a new lease of lives now. Or she is. Or…
Time travel and gender shifts. That’s going to get confusing.
I’d also assumed that the reproductive process seems likely to match ours.
I agree that a regeneration during a pregancy would almost certainly end it. But a pregnancy between regenerations could continue to full term. With time travel, a male Doctor could meet a female Doctor. Add in a bit of amnesia, and what might happen?
The idea of “All You Zombies -” is that a person is born with two functioning sets of reproductive organs, one male and one female. At different times, he/she lives as male and as female. With the aid of time travel, he impregnates herself. The result is a hermaphrodite baby…
Heinlein wrote two excellent time travel short stories. The other one is “By His Bootstraps”.
Thought I’d heard of them. I think most Time Lords would be bright enough to realise that’s the ultimate in in-breeding. I mean… hermaphrodite is just stupid, but true hermaphrodites are generally infertile.
I don’t recall Time Lord DNA coming up, but that has to be a sight to see.
Not convinced its a good move but she’ll have to work hard to be worse than who she’s replacing