who’s She For?
LIZBETH MYLES ON WHY JODIE WHITTAKER’S CASTING MATTERS
the idea of the Doctor being a woman, first suggested by tom baker at a press conference in 1980, was treated as a joke for decades. even when two women were eventually cast as the Doctor in the show’s apocryphal stories – Joanna lumley in comic relief sketch “the curse of Fatal Death”, and arabella Weir in big Finish audio “exile” – both stories were comedies, and both Doctors were there to be laughed at.
the feeling in fandom began to shift when the series returned to television in 2005. a new series meant new fans and new perspectives, unencumbered by years of fannish received wisdom about the show. more voices asked if the Doctor could change every physical aspect of himself, why couldn’t he be a woman? Why shouldn’t he be? Why can’t we see ourselves as the iconic time traveller blundering around from one corner of the universe to another instead of just being his temporary companions?
Don’t underestimate the power of representation if you’ve always seen yourself reflected in the stories you love. When Jodie Whittaker threw back her hood to reveal herself as the new Doctor, I cried. I didn’t understand until that moment how important it was for me to see the Doctor, my one true hero, as a woman. the idea that she could be the one to topple empires overnight should never have been a joke.
and to a see a woman being unapologetically confident, talkative, and the cleverest person in any room is important, not just for female viewers, but for all viewers. In some of the reactions to Whittaker’s casting it becomes blatantly obvious why: society is still trying to limit women and tell us what we can’t be, or what we can’t do.
the Doctor can do anything.