I always thought the Doctor was a male character - meaning that he could change his appearance and personality, but not his gender. (People before referred to the Doctor as a 'he'....)
There's never been any talk about Time Lords being hermaphrodites (sp?).
There have been a number of strong female characters in the series, so that stops that argument. I wonder whether the group have actually watched the programme?

By the way, I'm not against having female leads in TV programmes but it just wouldn't work in Doctor Who, in my opinion.

I'm starting my own group, petitioning for NO MORE DR WHOS AT ALL EVER AGAIN. Who wants to join?

You'd not be in favour of a Ethnic Doctor Who?

I could easily see Sanjeev Baskar, Felix Dexter, Jean Reno or Gary Oldman as the Doctor.

So the Time Lords sometimes become Time Ladies? I've studied canon to a massive degree and it's no worse than giving Daleks emotions. (Which shatters their whole basic makeup)

Oh, and that would make the relationship with Riversong even more 'interesting'

I'd rather have a new sci-fi series where the protagonist is a woman than having an old series change in a really strange fashion.

But doctor who already has the Rani and the Doctor's grandaughter (old series characters).

The Doctor has never gone through a sex change. For goodness sake, this is just stupid. The doctor used to hate humans, now he's falling in love with them. The show has gay characters of both sex's in it, theres no need to make the Doctor cross dress!

The Doctor is male gender and that's that.

Little movements like these almost make me blush for women everywhere. Isn't this patronizing in the most humiliating way?

Im still trying to grasp how a TV Show character could possibly be a role model, Let alone a scientific role model at that?
I was under the impression that role models had to be real, and actually represent what your working towards, not just an actor pretending to be what you desire.

Keep the show the way it is, it isn't going to inspire little girls (because it hasn't done wonders for boys either) to become scientists because at this time there aren't many (in proportion) female viewers of this genera, so the change would have to be fairly radical in order to attract a substantial set of viewers. Making this change would efficiently ruin the series, or alienate the original viewers.

No, put you political correctness where it matters (in job markets and schools), and keep it out of the entertainment industries.

What's this Doctor Who thing anyway? Some SciFi-series thing? I've gathered it's pretty long in the running - must get hard to come up with new stuff after so many years, it's only natural for the writers to try and mix it up a bit...

anti_strunt:
What's this Doctor Who thing anyway? Some SciFi-series thing? I've gathered it's pretty long in the running - must get hard to come up with new stuff after so many years, it's only natural for the writers to try and mix it up a bit...

It's that series that's been around longer than Star Trek :P

The_root_of_all_evil:

anti_strunt:
What's this Doctor Who thing anyway? Some SciFi-series thing? I've gathered it's pretty long in the running - must get hard to come up with new stuff after so many years, it's only natural for the writers to try and mix it up a bit...

It's that series that's been around longer than Star Trek :P

Well, what I said... It's only natural for the people involved to want to try new things.

Consider, if the series is around for [infinity], I think it's safe to say they would eventually have a female Doctor just for kicks - why not try it now? It seems they shift the main character around every few years, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. If it doesn't work, just make him a guy again next time... No biggie, right?

anti_strunt:

The_root_of_all_evil:

anti_strunt:
What's this Doctor Who thing anyway? Some SciFi-series thing? I've gathered it's pretty long in the running - must get hard to come up with new stuff after so many years, it's only natural for the writers to try and mix it up a bit...

It's that series that's been around longer than Star Trek :P

Well, what I said... It's only natural for the people involved to want to try new things.

Consider, if the series is around for [infinity], I think it's safe to say they would eventually have a female Doctor just for kicks - why not try it now? It seems they shift the main character around every few years, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. If it doesn't work, just make him a guy again next time... No biggie, right?

A female Time Lord? Yes.

The Doctor as a female? No.

Cousin_IT:
Interesting idea. Theres certainly no real reason I can think of stopping Dr Who from morphing into a female form. Might require his/her sidekick to change sex as well though. Not sure the relationship dynamics will be the same if both main characters are women.

It could work pretty fucking well rating wise if they play their cards right.

thebobmaster:

A female Time Lord? Yes.

The Doctor as a female? No.

I don't get the hostility. It's not anti-canon, and the Gallifreyans can switch form?

It's not like it should be done BECAUSE. It's just a nice idea.

As long as it's a proper actress. Kathy Burke/Jennifer Saunders/Anna Friel? Fine.

Lily Allen or others can jump in the Eye of Rassilon.

The_root_of_all_evil:

thebobmaster:

A female Time Lord? Yes.

The Doctor as a female? No.

I don't get the hostility. It's not anti-canon, and the Gallifreyans can switch form?

It's not like it should be done BECAUSE. It's just a nice idea.

As long as it's a proper actress. Kathy Burke/Jennifer Saunders/Anna Friel? Fine.

Lily Allen or others can jump in the Eye of Rassilon.

I guess that's the problem. If it is done, I just want it to be done because the best person they could find happened to be female, not because they were commanded to make The Doctor a female this time.

I don't understand why gender-switching would make past relationships awkward. There's no reason the Doctor has to be straight - for all we know, Time Lords/Gallifreyans have no concept of "gay" and "straight" - and if they do, it's entirely possible it changes from regeneration to regeneration without any social stigma.

I don't follow the expanded universe and haven't watched the original show, so I don't know if that has been covered, but like I said, bisexuality isn't awkward and nor would be transsexuality. In the days of the original show there'd have been "demonstrations" and the like but today there's no need to edge around it. We've had an omnisexual "companion" (Jack) who worked out so well he got his own show, so a female Doctor shouldn't be a problem on that score.

That being said, I'm still against it. As kick-ass as women can be (thank you, Hollywood and every video game ever made), a female Doctor would just be... different. I'm not going to try to define or defend that statement because I can't, other than letting it stand as an argument in and of itself. A female Doctor would change the show - it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but the show would no longer be the same. It'd be far more than just handing over to a new male actor.

I'm not against the idea of a female Time Lord character, but the character of The Doctor is a man.

Not certain if this has already been said - female Time Lords exist. Despite my limited knowledge of the canon outside of the recent revival, Romana is one I'm aware of.

I think the writers should do what they think best with The Doctor. This is just one group of fans mouthing off about what they want to see. They will probably be listened to/ignored like every other group of mouthy fans (including us) who think they know what is best for the series. If I were writing the plot I probably would find it more difficult if the doctor was percieved as female, but then again I am not a very good writer.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I say no.
The Doctor is a male Time Lord and that would just screw everything up. I mean, Rose Tyler did as much as the Doctor in all of their adventures. Plus, I think the Doctor only has two more regenerations left and they better not screw up with any of them.
I'm not sexist or anything I just don't think they need to bow to peer pressure and change an established character to that degree.
In addition, wouldn't he/she retain all of the memories of past adventures? That would be awkward to explain to people.

I don't know much about the background, but it appears rather silly that a race that can travel through time would still be held down by petty biological divisions such as gender.

Though I suppose that might be 60ies SciFi for you...

Molikroth:
Not certain if this has already been said - female Time Lords exist.

They prefer the term Time Ladies. :)

She should also be Mixed race between Black and Chinese, be wheelchair bound, have downs syndrome and also be a pygmy.

The part should go to whoever best plays the role. The part should go to a woman if shes doing it right, but it shouldn't go to a female by default just to give girls a reason to do science, that's called sexism ;)

curlycrouton:
I'm just sad that David Tennant's leaving.

Yep, Christopher Eccleston was good and Tennant to me IS the Doctor.

Thing is, cant really see a female Doctor. I mean this may be a rather "1950's - dear, is the dinner ready" kinda way to look at it, but whats wrong with having a female assistant. Most of the time it is written so that they are as capable as the Doctor himself anyway.

Although saying all of that, i was a bit opposed to Catherine Tate when it was said she might be starting. But, as usual, i was wrong and she ended being awesome in the role.

BTW...Arabella Weir (Does my bum look big in this?) played the Female Doctor in 2003's Big Finish Audio Adventure. http://www.bigfinish.com/6-Doctor-Who-Unbound-Exile

woo bring back Tom Baker lol. But seriously a female Dr might be interesting and hell if it does bomb they can just kill her off and bring a new Dr who in lol.

The doctor... a... transvestite?

Jesus. Fuck. Shit. Christ. NO.

Sigenrecht:
The doctor... a... transvestite?

Jesus. Fuck. Shit. Christ. NO.

She wouldn't be a transvestite, or even transsexual/transgender. She'd be female.

He'd be a man, who became a woman. It's not like he died, burned, and was reincarnated as a shrew. He transforms, on his death bed, in live time, if you've ever seen any previous regenerations.

His regenerations change him completely. It isn't the magic/pseudo-science equivilant of a sex change, and if it was, I can't see why that would be a problem.

Yes I somewhat agree with avykins, I think a female Doctor Who is political correctness going to far. I don't know why it is such a big fuss anyway? The main character has been a male for the last 40 years, why change it? Just because its sci-fi doesn't mean the entire program should alter its course. Thats like saying (fishing for an example), that the Rick guy from the Bold and the Beautiful (who must have been there for decades) should get a sex change. It doesn't make sense and isn't required.

I think Doctor Who is a fantastic program as is and the revival has been good, but it shouldn't be overdone, they've made the Sarah Jane Adventures with a female lead! What more is required?

It occurred to me that in season three, the Master said something about the Doctor's then-companions covering every demograph. After all, The Doctor is mentally handicapped, Martha is black and a woman, Jack is omnisexual.

I think that gave the PC-mad a way in. Give people an inch and they take a mile.

The doctor has to stay a guy, theres only 2 ways to turn him into a girl:
1. Betray the backstory, in which (although not directly said) Its implied that he's ALWAYS been a guy, he changes PHYSICAL form, he's still a guy at heart.
2. Do one of those OH LOOK YOUR A GIRL NOW! With one of those " the guy becomes a girl oh look at the sexual akwardness ha ha ha" stories and although those are entertaining they don't belong in Dr. Who. Of course the simple answer would be to shoot yourself, and morph back into a guy.
Both answers suck. Like avykins and DalekJaas said this is PC gone too far, its like the women who want words like fishman and buisnessman turned to fisherperson and buisnessperson. Its rediculous, equality doesn't mean you can run in and disrupt everthing. Torchwoods main character is a woman, how would they like if we demaded that she becomes a guy?

DamienHell:
The doctor has to stay a guy, theres only 2 ways to turn him into a girl:
1. Betray the backstory, in which (although not directly said) Its implied that he's ALWAYS been a guy, he changes PHYSICAL form, he's still a guy at heart.
2. Do one of those OH LOOK YOUR A GIRL NOW! With one of those " the guy becomes a girl oh look at the sexual akwardness ha ha ha" stories and although those are entertaining they don't belong in Dr. Who. Of course the simple answer would be to shoot yourself, and morph back into a guy.
Both answers suck. Like avykins and DalekJaas said this is PC gone too far, its like the women who want words like fishman and buisnessman turned to fisherperson and buisnessperson. Its rediculous, equality doesn't mean you can run in and disrupt everthing. Torchwoods main character is a woman, how would they like if we demaded that she becomes a guy?

I thought the main character of Torchwood was Captain Jack Harkness...

Misandry hurts my brain. Having the Doctor suddenly on try #11 become a woman? Only thing that scares me is that on some level I think RTD would do it. Despite the idea that he changes each time, there are constants. The Doctor is usually if not always troubled, tends in most incarnations toward taciturnity, mild arrogance, a preference for being 'thinky', flair for the dramatic, and a bearing of quiet authority. If you add these features up and apply them to a woman, they would be less plausibly accepted by companions and/or seem to scream 'dyke'. Perhaps the stereotype is unfair, but that of being warm and caring really doesn't flow with established role or persona of the Doctor; you'd have G. I. Jane in Space or a Lily Tomlineseque and do violence to the idea. Like it or not, the established profile for the Doctor is that of the lonely male authority figure (even beneath Sylvester McCoy or David Tennant's goofiness).

For the record, I'm a Tom Baker/Jon Pertwee/Christopher Eccleston man.