I am not always a regular watcher of “Doctor Who”, but I always enjoy the show when I remember to watch it. Personally, my favorite season was David Tennant and Catherine Tate, because she was a tough woman who rolled with the insanity that is travel with The Doctor. It’s so hard to judge from a teaser, but I get some very “kicking ass and taking names” vibes from the reveal of the new Doctor, Jodie Whittaker!
First, watch this teaser and tell me you don’t get chills — that’s the face of a woman who is beyond excited to enter the Tardis and adventure through time and space. Seriously, I’ve watched the trailer at least five times, and while there’s not much to it beyond the reveal, it just gives off a vibe of fun and adventure.
Second, setting aside the gender twist (The Doctor has always been played by a man), Whittaker has worked along with the new Doctor Who showrunner before. This hopefully means we’ll see a tightly run, well-written season since they won’t be first getting to know one another. Also, Doctor Who has always been a show that’s presented interracial, same-sex and even human-alien relationships as normal, with no fanfare or declarations of how progressive it is…in the world of The Doctor, there are just people (er…beings.) While it’s a shift to have a woman play The Doctor, it does tie in with how the show has been presented since it rebooted with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. If any science fiction show can handle a gender flip, it’s Doctor Who.
The real question is how they’ve figured she’s the 13th Doctor…the whole numbering system goes a little wonky if you think too hard, but we’ll go with 13 if that’s what the BBC insists with their “new math”. The confusion here comes from where the rebooted series fits in The Doctor’s lives. Originally, Christopher Eccleston was presented as Doctor #9, so that makes David Tennant #10, Matt Smith #11, and Peter Capaldi #12. But it doesn’t account for John Hurt, who played an incarnation of The Doctor who chronologically sits between #8 and #9. It’s probably best if you don’t think too hard about these things, and just accept that there’s a new Doctor in town, and she looks like she’s ready to take on the universe.
The real question is, how will the TARDIS feel about all this?