# From Doctor Who to Doctor...Who? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557 "2017-07-05T19:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/141 "2017-07-17T09:49:24Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve always identified with the Doctor as male. I’m not sure that I can let go of decades of watching the character. . > [@Penfeather](#): > > Nope, you can’t blame your attitudes on the age of the fandom. I’ve been watching the show since Pertwee was the Doctor, and I’d love to see what a woman can do with the role. I’ve watched the show since the first episode 🆒 and am perfectly happy with a gender change. The point about the show is that it can go anywhere and to any time period. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/142 "2017-07-17T10:25:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Right - in my experience, it’s adult nerdy _females_ who are the true hardcore viewers. I’d distinguish between “hardcore” and “core” -although, IME, I’d agree with you as to who is hardcore, I believe the core audience still is kids. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/143 "2017-07-17T10:33:20Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > The only thing I’ve seen that Jodie Whittaker has been in is Attack the Block, and I don’t really remember much about it. Something that I read said that she was also the mom of some character on Broadchurch, which doesn’t sound like a particularly glamorous role that should instantly lead one to believe that she has the chops to lead a major TV series. But, I have to assume that she nailed the role during casting and, outside of Christopher Eccleston, I think that they’ve done a good job of casting. I passed on the last couple of seasons of Capaldi, but that’s because the writing was crap and it was just episode after episode of “Oh my god, the Doctor is OLD! Canyabuhleevezit!?” Granted, that makes me suspect that the new season will be episode after episode of, “Oh my god, the Doctor is a WOMAN! CANYABUHLEEVEZIT!??” But I’ll watch in the hope that they might have learned something from the Capaldi reviews and to see if she brings something more special to the role than being cranky. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/144 "2017-07-17T10:37:56Z")
> [@naita](#): > > So basically you have a strong opinion on something that won’t affect you and which you know nothing about. The poster you were replying to certainly didn’t seem to have a strong opinion on the new female Doctor. In what time travelling universe did you get the impression he or she held a strong opinion on the matter? ---
**Author:** ![abashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@abashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abashed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/145 "2017-07-17T10:57:07Z")
> [@naita](#): > > So basically you have a strong opinion on something that won’t affect you and which you know nothing about. I know enough to be entitled to an opinion. :o ---
**Author:** ![abashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@abashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abashed)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/146 "2017-07-17T11:01:44Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > The poster you were replying to certainly didn’t seem to have a strong opinion on the new female Doctor. In what time travelling universe did you get the impression he or she held a strong opinion on the matter? If I’d have said I did not agree with replacing a male actor with a female actor,\* that\* would have been a strong opinion. I did not. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/147 "2017-07-17T11:06:51Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This seems pretty damn different than your initial reaction. Maybe you’re growing! No, he just assumes everybody agrees with the first impulse that flashes across his neurons, and backpedals hastily when they don’t. Give it another 50 posts and it will have been his idea all along. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/148 "2017-07-17T11:15:26Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > The poster you were replying to certainly didn’t seem to have a strong opinion on the new female Doctor. In what time travelling universe did you get the impression he or she held a strong opinion on the matter? …in what way would you suggest the poster in question didn’t have a strong opinion on the new female Doctor? They had: -never followed Doctor Who -but hoped the new appointment wasn’t based on “sexual equality” -hoped that Whittaker was the best person for the job, but had their doubts -those doubts were based on “the inbuilt feminist bias nowadays built into our society” -they resent the box ticking that apparently goes on “all the time” -this new approach is going to change the entire ethos of the series (a series which they don’t happen to follow) -this may or may not be a good thing, which we will see (well the poster won’t see, because they don’t follow Doctor Who) That looks pretty opinionated to me. But as always, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/149 "2017-07-17T11:22:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’d distinguish between “hardcore” and “core” -although, IME, I’d agree with you as to who is hardcore, I believe the core audience still is kids. That’s probably the case in the UK, although I’m not that sure about the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/150 "2017-07-17T11:24:22Z")
I personally don’t really have any interest in the opinion of anyone who call it “Dr. Who”, firstly because they’re a noob, and secondly for the gratuitous period. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/151 "2017-07-17T11:27:57Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That’s probably the case in the UK, although I’m not that sure about the rest of the world. It’s the case in at least two South African households 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/152 "2017-07-17T11:50:17Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …in what way would you suggest the poster in question didn’t have a strong opinion on the new female Doctor? > > They had: > > -never followed Doctor Who > -but hoped the new appointment wasn’t based on “sexual equality” > -hoped that Whittaker was the best person for the job, but had their doubts > -those doubts were based on “the inbuilt feminist bias nowadays built into our society” > -they resent the box ticking that apparently goes on “all the time” > -this new approach is going to change the entire ethos of the series (a series which they don’t happen to follow) > -this may or may not be a good thing, which we will see (well the poster won’t see, because they don’t follow Doctor Who) > > That looks pretty opinionated to me. But as always, YMMV. I think you have led a very sheltered online life if you think the poster gave a strong opinion. If you are being in any way charitable you would admit the poster was relatively mild in his or her views. The only strong opinion sounding word was “resent”. Even his/her resentment was concerned with something they noticed in a wider, non Doctor Who, context. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/153 "2017-07-17T12:03:08Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > The poster you were replying to certainly didn’t seem to have a strong opinion on the new female Doctor. In what time travelling universe did you get the impression he or she held a strong opinion on the matter? My deepest apologies for using an imprecise adjective. I made the presumption that someone posting about the casting for a show they don’t follow must do so with some conviction, as otherwise they would just be contributing irrelevant noise. I see on second reading that no conviction was involved. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/154 "2017-07-17T12:08:41Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > I think you have led a very sheltered online life if you think the poster gave a strong opinion. If you are being in any way charitable you would admit the poster was relatively mild in his or her views. The only strong opinion sounding word was “resent”. Even his/her resentment was concerned with something they noticed in a wider, non Doctor Who, context. …as I said: YMMV. I haven’t lead a sheltered life: and I would request that if you would like to offer any further opinions about my life you would do it in the appropriate forums. We have a different opinion on what is and what isn’t a “strong opinion” and I’m really not interested in a debate. You can either accept my opinion or you are welcome to disagree with it: but stop trying to tell me my opinion is incorrect: because that isn’t how opinions work. Anybody who thinks that Whittaker might not have been the “best person for the job” based on the alleged “inbuilt feminist bias nowadays built into our society” is expressing a strong opinion IMHO. There is next-to-no evidence that the BBC would randomly pick any woman based on the simple fact they are a woman. And we most certainly don’t live in a society that defaults to “feminist bias.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/155 "2017-07-17T12:43:51Z")
Next time, they need to break the species barrier. Doctor Ood, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/156 "2017-07-17T13:07:05Z")
I find the selective suspension of disbelief really amusing. We’re talking about a show where the main character goes through a process that radically changes his body and personality every few seasons, and that’s completely normal, but if it changes ‘he’ to ‘she’ then that’s just TOO MUCH. I mean, it’s long-established that the main character gets a completely new body every now and then, but for some people the idea that a process that gives someone a completely new body could give them a body that’s female instead of male is just too much. And if you want to talk about what long-time fans of the show can accept, remember that this is a show that used an inflatable plastic chair as a wonder weapon: [Death by Plastic Chair | Terror of the Autons | Doctor Who | BBC Studios - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXrAK6sUZ_0) . ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/157 "2017-07-17T13:11:26Z")
I liked her in _Broadchurch_ and hope the scripts support her acting chops. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/158 "2017-07-17T13:21:14Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > And if you want to talk about what long-time fans of the show can accept, remember that this is a show that used an inflatable plastic chair as a wonder weapon: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXrAK6sUZ\_0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXrAK6sUZ_0) . Not to mention a character made entirety of candy. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/159 "2017-07-17T13:26:54Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Not to mention a character made entirety of candy. …lets not forget the [wheelie bin.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todMsacOKAc) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/160 "2017-07-17T13:48:34Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This seems pretty damn different than your initial reaction. Maybe you’re growing! My earlier posts were based on my initial reaction to the announcement. I was seething and upset. Someone posted a video (up thread) of a upset fan. I felt much the same way. The BBC has been reassuring fans for months there were no plans for a female Doctor. Lot of fans felt betrayed. Anyway, it’s a fait accompli now. Nothing we can do but hope the show is still enjoyable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557.md?page=9)