Peter Capaldi is leaving Doctor Who

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Will be excited for this season then. Just please, please, please, please, dear God please, don't just change the Doctor into a woman just for the sake of it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

HERE WE GO!

The next doctor will be announced after the Wimbledon Men's Final this Sunday!

I hope to God it's not Kris Marshall.

I hope its not a women.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The sexism happening on social media, and just overall meaningless hate is horrific... how the f**k is it a bad thing that the Doctor is female?! It's not, ok, just deal with it
/rant

Maleness is at the core of the Doctor, as is generally understood. Females deserve more leading roles, but the best solution for that is new female characters, not messing with old characters that are historically male. It just robs a character of much-needed consistency.
It'd be like if they wanted to make James Bond a female. Such an effort would be terrible and bad.
The higher ups have made a bad decision re: the new Doctor, no doubt about it.  If Jodie was a good actor (I'll willing to believe that being the case) they should have made her a side character, a companion. And made her important, like how Romana was.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The sexism happening on social media, and just overall meaningless hate is horrific... how the f**k is it a bad thing that the Doctor is female?! It's not, ok, just deal with it
/rant

Maleness is at the core of the Doctor, as is generally understood. Females deserve more leading roles, but the best solution for that is new female characters, not messing with old characters that are historically male. It just robs a character of much-needed consistency.
It'd be like if they wanted to make James Bond a female. Such an effort would be terrible and bad.
The higher ups have made a bad decision re: the new Doctor, no doubt about it.  If Jodie was a good actor (I'll willing to believe that being the case) they should have made her a side character, a companion. And made her important, like how Romana was.

This, this, this, and again this.

It's hilarous how some folks are trying to pidgeonhole folks like me and Illiniwek as sexist or something. I mean, come on, there are legitimate, non-sexist reasons to oppose a character's gender being flipped.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I am allowed to have strong opinions on fictional TV shows you know. Especially Doctor Who, which I have been interested in since my early childhood. Sorry.

Lots of positive reactions here. Of course, TimTurner does have a point that the Doctor has never been a woman before. We should go back to the good old days where actresses were only considered for the role and not actually cast.

Actresses have long been considered, and accepted, for the role of companion. Male companions are rather rare in Doctor Who.
It isn't like women are being shut out or something. Plenty of women have gotten prominent, important roles besides the Doctor (Rose, Romana, etc). Some shows just weren't meant to have female protagonists, that's all. Doctor Who is one of said shows. If the show was about a women going around traveling in a police box beginning in 1963, I'd be saying a women would have to be cast for role. But that isn't how things turned out.
Just because a women takes a role that has always been cast by a man doesn't automatically make it progress Some roles never should be cast by a woman, and vice versa.
Try imagining Wonder Woman gender flipped! Ew, no thank you.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Tim, you have this bizarre fascination with tradition seemingly for no reason other than tradition's sake. This reminds me a lot of your defense of the House of Lords, or any other antiquated institution. Just because something has been the way it has for a long time is no reason not to change it, and so far in this thread the only argument you've articulated is "it's been that way for a while." That's not convincing, and "consistency" isn't particularly compelling for a character that's been played by a dozen different actors.

If I always opposed change, I would be opposed to universal voter registration.
I just want sensible, thought out, rational change. And some things, of course, are not meant to or should not be changed, either because they serve their purpose well enough and/or there is no superior alternative.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

If I always opposed change, I would be opposed to universal voter registration.
I just want sensible, thought out, rational change. And some things, of course, are not meant to or should not be changed, either because they serve their purpose well enough and/or there is no superior alternative.

Okay.  Jodie Whittaker is a fine actress, so she "serves her purpose well enough." She may have been the "superior alternative" to the other people that auditioned for the role—it certainly seems that she was, as she was awarded the role. Which issue is it here?

The issue isn't with Jodie, it's the fact they are drafting a her for the role. She should have been made a companion instead (as I've repeated multiple times). They should have picked a competent male to serve by her side. That's a good pair imo.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

So there's no issue apart from your weird personal hangups. Got it.

I rather disagree with your definition of 'weird personal hangup'.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

So there's no issue apart from your weird personal hangups. Got it.

I rather disagree with your definition of 'weird personal hangup'.

You've been unable to articulate any reason other than "I don't like it," which is personal and, as it's not based in any sort of rational claim about the actress or about the show, weird.

I'm beginning to think debating you on this matter is a waste of time.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The sexism happening on social media, and just overall meaningless hate is horrific... how the f**k is it a bad thing that the Doctor is female?! It's not, ok, just deal with it
/rant

Maleness is at the core of the Doctor, as is generally understood. Females deserve more leading roles, but the best solution for that is new female characters, not messing with old characters that are historically male. It just robs a character of much-needed consistency.
It'd be like if they wanted to make James Bond a female. Such an effort would be terrible and bad.
The higher ups have made a bad decision re: the new Doctor, no doubt about it.  If Jodie was a good actor (I'll willing to believe that being the case) they should have made her a side character, a companion. And made her important, like how Romana was.

I'm sorry, but this is just a load of cr*p.

Thanks for summing up your post!
Calling gendered roles 'sexist' by default is a great way to devalue the term. Overused words lose their punch.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The Sun has just published nude photos of Whittaker with an anti-female Doctor editorial. This is getting [inks]ing ridiculous.

As i thought. This is legitimate sexism and it's f***ing disgusting.

(the releasing of nude pictures is NEVER o.k.  Editorializing against a female doctor isn't by itself sexism, obviously, but would likely inevitably be if it's the Sun doing it)