New Doctor for a new year

It was announced in July that the new Doctor on the British TV show Doctor Who would be played by Jodie Whittaker. I have been a fan of the show for a while. I started to watch the show when Matt Smith was the Doctor (although I never actually saw any of his episodes as they aired). As the show went on, I was unaware that I could watch it on BBC America and was rapidly trying to catch up to the current season through Amazon prime. I wasn't able to do that until this last season, Peter Capaldi's last. This show, which has been on the air for 54 years, never holds back. When Smith left and Capaldi came in, the first question everyone asked was an inside joke: is the Doctor going to be ginger. The next question was who would it be. The questions weren't any different this time around. Everyone kept their eyes to Comic Con, thinking they would announce the new Doctor at the panel. They were in for a surprise. It was announced a day early and the casting seemed to surprise some fans, even though some had been hoping for this for quite a few years. For the first time ever, the Doctor would be female.

Now if you are not a fan of the show, this may seem a bit weird. It's the same character but different actors? Is it like a James Bond thing? I'll explain. The Doctor is a Time Lord, an alien who travels in a TARDIS (time and relative dimentions in space. Just think time machine). He can travel through time and space. He can see any historical event at any point in time on any planet (although he seems to love Earth and London) but he cannot change history. At all. The show is about his adventures with the people that he brings with him (called companions). Since he is a Time Lord, he regenerates (changes) whenever he is about to die. This usually happens at Christmas when they have a Christmas special and while there is a Christmas special every year, the Doctor does not change every Christmas. This clever idea came up when the first person to play him, William Hartnell, had to leave the show due to health reasons but the show was so popular that they couldn't just end it. So they brought in another actor, Patrick Troughton, and showed the Doctor changing from Hartnell to Troughton. This continued on throughout the years. So it is kind of like a James Bond thing since the actors usually leave after they spend a good deal of time on the show but sometimes they leave because the writer changes. For example, David Tennant (the tenth Doctor) left because writer Russell T. Davies left. Matt Smith (the eleventh Doctor) left because he had been on the show for four years. Peter Capaldi (the twelfth Doctor) is leaving because writer Steven Moffat is leaving.

Since the show started, males have played the lead role while a female usually plays the role of the companion. It has been said before that regeneration is a bit of a gamble. You never know what you are going to get. This led to fans thinking that after Matt Smith, a girl may play the lead role this time. Then Peter Capaldi came along and everyone loved him (he was also in a previous episode with David Tennant and they connected twelve to the tenth doctor so maybe that's why). Then a hint was dropped by the Doctor's biggest enemy (and friend) becoming Missy, a female version of the Master. One of the last lines that the Master says in the tenth season is "is the future gonna be all girl?" How's that for foreshadowing. Now, a girl is playing the Doctor. And there are a lot of people saying "it's about time". But there are many saying that this is going to be the worst season ever. Here's my opinion:

I haven't seen anything Jodie Whittaker has done. Much like how the only one I saw before was David Tennant because he was in Harry Potter but that's a different story. The actor playing the Doctor is usually unknown to American audiences and sometimes to British audiences as well. So no matter what, you have to give the new one a chance. And even if the person was well known, they could be great or terrible. You don't know until they start playing the role. I don't care if the Doctor is male or female. As long as the actor does a good job, I will be happy. The actor usually doesn't matter as much as the writing does. I love the story lines from Tennant's run. Russell T. Davies was a great writer for this show. Steven Moffat was pretty good. My only complaint is he killed every character I liked, but he was a good writer (he also writes for BBC Sherlock). Chris Chibnall is the new writer. If he can write well and Whittaker can make it believable, then the season will be a hit. I've seen what past doctors have said about it and everyone is pretty much on board with it. My favorite response has to be David Tennant's though.


He starts to talk about Doctor Who a minute in and it ends around 3:40. And he puts it so well. Every Doctor has been put through so much when they come in. They have to deal with what people say on the internet, at fan conventions, when they meet them on the street, etcetera. I will admit that when Capaldi came in, I didn't know how he would be or if the Doctor should be someone old (silly me. The first few Doctors were old. We've only recently had young actors playing the Doctor). Once the new season starts and people get to see how the new Doctor is, they love them. I don't think this season is going to be any different. Besides, if the season stinks, when you rewatch the show you can always skip it. But sometimes when you watch something more than once, it sometimes seems better than it did the first time. John Barrowman (who played Captain Jack Harkness in season 1) says it best: "Just sit down and give it a chance."

So I'm all for a female doctor as long as the tradition of a good show is kept up. The Doctor can be anyone. Who cares if the Doctor is a guy or a girl? I don't. I DO care if the show keeps up being amazing and continues to be historically correct and science-y and overall great. I can't wait for Christmas and after that, April when season 11 starts. And if you aren't into the show, I highly recommend this show. It is like nothing else on TV and is really good once you get into it. Just one thing: don't skip nine.