Female Doctor
These are some thoughts I've collected on the fact that the Doctor changes gender and/or sex in their twelve regeneration (Peter Capaldi to Jodie Whittaker). I don't agree with all of the points, and I'm personally not bothered by the change (I don't watch the new series very often either), but I thought it would be interesting to collate them in one place.
There are two areas to explore with regards to the concept of a female Doctor:
- Is it consistent with the established Doctor Who universe?
- Is it a good idea from a television perspective?
Established Doctor Who universe
Arguments in favour of a female Doctor being possible:
- No previous work has explicitly stated that it is impossible to change gender or sex on regeneration.
- Regeneration involves a complete bodily change - height, weight, appearance, personality. It's not too big a leap for this to include sex.
Television
Arguments in favour of a female Doctor:
- Provides a strong role model for female viewers.
- There's no inherent reason why male viewers cannot be inspired by a female role model.
Arguments against a female Doctor:
- The Doctor was one of very few male role models who doesn't attempt to solve problems by force or violence.