Comments

  1. rq says

    Well done! Next up: a person of colour. Then they can go back to their whitemaleness with a lightened conscience.

  2. komarov says

    No bet -- I don’t even watch the show and wouldn’t know what a ‘long’ lifespan for Doctors looks like. Instead I say, let another glorious chapter in the Systematic Oppression Of Men And Their Removal From Their Traditional Roles And Safe Spaces begin! I just hope everone is sufficiently braced for the inevitable counter-offensive, the usual outpouring of baseless rage lavishly decorated with sexist slurs and death threats. That’s probably well underway by now…

  3. says

    I would have preferred a woman of colour, but I guess you can only expect men to advance in tiny increments.

  4. says

    Giliell:

    As somebody said on Twitter: I wan her to meet her wife and make the dudebros die of heart attacks.

    Yeah, I was wondering about that. Are they going to do the standard binary gender flip regarding the assistant now? I’m sure they’ll have to have the male assistant. I gave up on Who ages back; Tom Baker was my childhood doctor, and I’m okay with that in my head.

    As for 13, yeah, it’s hard to ignore that one. Even though 13 has always been good to me, I love Friday the 13ths, they are always great days for me. Whereas my anniversary is utter poison, I don’t dare move on that day, it blows up cars.

  5. Rob Grigjanis says

    If they’d snagged Sophie Okonedo for the part, I could probably overcome my Moffatt-induced gag reflex and watch the bloody thing.

  6. says

    Well, all things said, I’m not in the least impressed. Yeah, it’s a woman. How long has the damn show been on the air now? Not so impressive. A sci-fi show, and they just now get around to acknowledging a woman in the main role. A white, blonde woman, so as far as women go, one on top of the privilege heap. I have no doubt they’ll go the binary route with the assistant, can’t have two women, and certainly no love interest there, either.

    If they were actually interested in making any sort of progressive move, they should have fucking done it decades ago, especially when that would have seriously mattered to generations of young women, and it would have had true impact and force. Now? Eh, they figure they won’t lose by it, so it’s okay, and if it goes bad, they can kill her off quickly.

  7. StevoR says

    @9. Giliell, professional cynic -Ilk- :

    Anybody remember DS9 and Dax? She was constantly in romantic trouble with all the people of different genders who had romantic affairs with her previous incarnation…

    Jadzia (& then Ezri) Dax -- yes I do indeed. Awesome character(s) and not a bad way to explain regenerations either.

    This is one lifelong Whovian who thinks this a good move, about time, and looking forward to it.

  8. says

    I have a post going up at 1:00pm EST on this. I’m excited. I also very quickly mention the idea of Laverne Cox playing the Doctor…

    I didn’t mention the fact that Jodie’s white and blonde… I probably should have, now that I think about it. I was excited, and the only maybe-negative thing I could think of at that point was a worry about how she’d be written. But yeah… Jodie Whittaker is another white actor. Maybe baby steps are better than no steps at all? My hope is that it’s a stepping stone to a more diverse cast of actors playing the Doctor from here on out (which is the context in which I mention Laverne Cox). I really hope the show doesn’t continue it’s decline and ultimately get cancelled. I hope this proves to be the breath of fresh air the show needs, and it propels the show well into the future.

    I adored Peter Capaldi (he’s my Doctor), but I am so happy that Steven Moffat is leaving. I know absolutely nothing about Chris Chibnall, so I really can’t judge what kind of showrunner he’ll be.

    I will say this, though… Doctor Who as a show has me hook, line, and sinker. I will watch until the day it’s taken off the air. And then, I will listen, read, follow, and hope it’ll be revived again in the future. It’s been pretty progressive and highly problematic, with amazing and terrible episodes, throughout its entire 54-year run. I know that, and I will never defend the shit. But I love it.

  9. Dunc says

    Anybody remember DS9 and Dax? She was constantly in romantic trouble with all the people of different genders who had romantic affairs with her previous incarnation…

    I think “constantly” is over-stating it a bit… There was one episode where she was nearly extradited for murder because of an affair that Curzon had had, one episode where a former Trill lover turned up in a new (female) host, and the whole awkward business with Worf after Jadzia’s death, which couldn’t really be ignored given the circumstances and the well-established fact that Worf is a dick. It’s not like the holodeck malfunctions in TNG and Voyager.

  10. Saad says

    I’m all for social justice, but is it realistic for a telepathic extraterrestrial time traveler to be a woman?

  11. Callinectes says

    I continue to balk at the degree to which Dominus temporis resembles Homo sapiens.

  12. says

    You should have seen the shitshow in the FB groups — broflakes all over the place whining about “tradition” and “the Doctor is Always Maaaaale” and all kinds of sexist comments and posts. A few women — all of whom deployed the “I’m a woman so I can’t be misogynist” trope — were also complaining.

    I left one group b/c the sexism was just OTT — a dildo was posted as a suggestion for her sonic. The Tardis was painted pink (ew). Jokes about how women can’t drive.

    Thankfully the other group is far more decent — we’re actually having a discussion about sexism, and there’s been very little (if any) What-about-the-men shittery. Well.. one guy posted a rant about the Doctor and sacred masculinity (nobody could make sense of it). And another did go on and on (and on and on and on!) about the need for nonviolent male role models (because it’s not like nearly every show has male leads or anything). I do agree with him that there need to be fewer male role models modeling violence as the solution to every problem, sure, but I can also list several characters who fit the bill.

    As for me? I’m TOTALLY PSYCHED!!!!!!!! It’s going to be a long 5-ish months…

  13. says

    “Woman driver” jokes?

    [thinks of all the episodes in which the male Doctor ended up Somewhen Else ‘coz the TARDIS went where it wanted to go, never mind what the Doctor was aiming for]

    [shakes head]

  14. Dunc says

    cubist, @#22: Plus, it’s been explicitly established on multiple occasions that the Doctor is a terrible TARDIS pilot, and that River Song was far better at it. It was a running joke.

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