Should the Next 'Doctor Who' Be a Woman? 772
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Jennifer Finney Boylan writes in the NYT that for those who did not get beaten up in high school, 'Doctor Who' is a beloved British sci-fi series about a character called the Doctor who is able to regenerate into a new body whenever a mortal would die or whenever an actor grows tired of the gig. The Doctor has been played by 11 different men since the show went on the air in 1963 and with Matt Smith, stepping down this Christmas, many fans had hoped that this time, a dozen cycles in, the Doctorship would finally go to a woman. 'Maybe it was the election of Barack Obama that made it seem, fleetingly, as if there were no more glass ceilings, for offices from president to pontiff,' writes Boylan. 'Whether the 45th president is a woman (Hillary Rodham Clinton?) or a Latino (Marco Rubio?), it still feels, on a good day, as if we've entered a time when there are fewer limits on what men and women can aspire to.' But unlike presidents or popes, we may not get that many more chances at a glass-shattering Doctor. According to long-held Doctor Who mythology, the character's 13th regeneration could be his last. 'As the producers think about whom they want to take on the role next, they should keep in mind the way people's hopes are lifted when they see someone breaking the glass ceiling, even when it's for something as seemingly trivial as a hero on a science-fiction program. Equal opportunity matters — in Doctor Who's universe as well as our own.'"
Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why not a vegan tranny black lesbian Muslim in a wheelchair?
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Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Funny)
That's what they said about daleks and stairs. Didn't stop them.
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Funny)
Finally a worthy opponent for the Daleks!
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Funny)
They wouldn't be able to do all the running involved...
New tagline:
"Lets Roll"
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Well, if the last few seasons are any indication, running is no longer required. Neither is a plot, creativity, or fun 4-episode arcs. Under Moffat's tenure, the only requirement is waving around a sonic screwdriver like it's a magic wand.
Under these strenuous conditions, the vegan tranny black lesbian Muslim in a wheelchair would be more than sufficient.
Hell, the good Doctor could be replaced by a muppet with the screwdriver firmly velcro'd to its hand with no noticeable impact to the show. Come to thi
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And if I say that the wheelchair is actually a self-powered cold-fusion wheelchair?
Sorry, Davros already used that one.
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Insightful)
The Doctor: "You know the definition of a vegan don't you? They're people too insensitive to hear a carrot citizen of Denigula VI scream."
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Insightful)
You don't think Dr. Who as a female would make for some interesting stories? Are you dead inside? Political correctness is the last reason in the world why we'd want a female Doctor. We'd want a female Doctor because it would be interesting. Honestly, male Dr. Who has been done to death!
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Funny)
A female doctor would run like a girl.
What about the woman sidekick? (Score:4, Interesting)
These sidekicks are hot by the standards of women on British TV where the extremes in cosmetic dentistry, dermatology, and plastic surgery are not followed as rigorously as in Hollywood.
So would the female Dr. Who have a beefcake dude sidekick? Would the female Dr. Who be a babe or perhaps a mature woman in the tradition of Helen Mirren, Judy Dench, or Amanda Richardson? Or maybe a West Indian babe with a delicious regional accent as the police captain who thinks Holmes is a dangerous vigilante and medler into police business as in that Sherlock Holmes reboot (and gosh no, not the Robert Downey Jr. one).
Re:What about the woman sidekick? (Score:4, Informative)
The 10th Doctor had a beefcake sidekick, Capt. Jack Harkness.
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What does the cannon have to say about time lords passing regenerations to eachother?
We saw River Song do this, to which the Doctor remarked "You didn't have to do that", and indicated that she gave up all of her remaining regenerations. My circle of friends has been speculating that this was done to set him up to go past 13, using the regenerations she gave him.... which may also setup a situation where they can switch him to a female and create new cannon, if this is a new situation.
Admittedly, I am no ex
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"Political correctness" is generally a word that's used to dismiss what someone else wants as nonsense. Whatever TFA may be saying, the fact is that there's a lot of interest in a female Doctor online, and it's not out of political correctness. It's because people think it would be cool, for actually a wide variety of reasons. My personal reason is that I think it would spin off good stories and allow the writers to subvert some Whovian tropes in really fun ways.
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Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Insightful)
Could you paste your post a few more times to make sure everyone see's it?
Look, the character is male. He should remain male unless there is a convincing reason to make him female. Because it would be interesting is not reason enough, not when there are are still many interesting stories to tell with him as a male.
When I formed my opinion of Dr. Who... (Score:3)
I watched a few episodes in the late '70s. They were supremely boring and had dreadful special effects. (Even when compared to other British sci-fi of the era, such as Space: 1999.) Has the show improved since then?
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Possibly. But is there any particular reason it has to be the same Gallifreyan? Do you really want to break what appears to be continuity and almost certainly alienate a large proportion of the viewers just for that? (Personally it wouldn't bother me but it doesn't bother me that it's not either and I'd rather have a Doctor on the screen than than a PC Doctor cancelled. It took long enough for it to come back last time.)
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Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Interesting)
The other Gallifreyans are all gone. If they wanted a female Timelord, they should have done a Romana spinoff years ago.
The best part of a show about time travel is that there is nothing that is actually immutable. Doctor Who has rewritten plot lines in the past, and utterly ignored previous canon when it suits the writers.
That said, bringing back Romana would be awesome. Preferably the Mary Tramm version in terms of character. The haughty brilliance she brought to the show was the perfect counterpoint to Tom Baker's goofiness. Our newer doctors really need that authority figure to contrast the manic screwdriver-waving stupidity we have gotten lately. Donna Noble was the closest we got to a proper companion like the original show, and her departure was noticeable in every aspect of the character interactions.
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Well by canon only 3-4 Gallifreyans are sort of left... The Doctor's old nemesis is supposed to have died... again. His wife/amy pond's daughter, ie River Song, is supposed to be dead, but did regenerate at least twice. He does have a cloned daughter who we saw a couple years ago and dissapeared. Though she would have to be reintroduced after all this time (I was hoping for a spin off then).
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Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not a bad idea to bring in Susan, but I think people want The Doctor.
Honestly, I've been watching him since the late 1970's as a male. After all that time, making him female just seems like a gimmick. While I don't think there is any in-universe reason he couldn't be a female, but there's been almost zero reason to believe it would ever happen.
And what's worse, they'd probably have to do something like make it either traumatic or "super cool" for the Doctor. In either case, I could see that being annoying, story-wise. Given the tenure of current actors in the role, they'd spend half their time on the "I'm a female now" arc before moving on.
I do think that they should somehow work in a female Time Lord, like they have in the past, and make her a lot more integral than Romana or the Rani were. The other females like River Song, or the Doctor's daughter might have Time Lord physiology, but they aren't Gallifreyans culturally and never lived in Time Lord society. I think they need a new, actual female Time Lord, but I'm not sure how that would work out.
Susan is technically the best candidate (if she's still alive outside the Time War), but I think they'd benefit from introducing a new character.
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Dr. Who has been done to death!
And death, and death, and death, and death, and ...
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Funny)
Having breasts does not make you interesting.
( ) - Strongly Agree
( ) - Agree
( ) - Disagree
(*) - Strongly Disagree
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Insightful)
So true. I don't understand why this keeps coming up. Just because Who happens to have the regeneration plot device, which would make it possible for him to come back as a woman, doesn't really make the why of it any different than any other long-running series with a male lead. Should the next James Bond be a woman? I'm a big fan of sci-fi with female lead characters; Buffy, Lost Girl, the Underworld movies, Resident Evil. You do not need to screw around with a series with a male lead character if you want female leads.
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Funny)
The next James Bond should be Jessica Alba. Now that would breathe new life into a tired out francise.
Leave Dr Who alone.
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Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Interesting)
It also makes it possible for 'it' to come back as a man. The point some people are making is that there is no reason not to have 'it' come back as a woman. The character has been largely asexual and could remain so. Personally I think they've selected the next doctor well but I think it'd be nice if they cast one of the many capable actresses available at some point in the future.
I think you're probably fully aware of the nonsense of your James Bond remark; largely because if you're able to use the internet you would realise that James is a man's name, a male character and human thus not able to change gender. That said, I personally would have no issue with it if they rebranded as "007: The next films not enough" and the next 007 was a woman; it'd be quite refreshing to see the bravado of James Bond portrayed by a woman and I think we're finally reaching the point where it wouldn't seem jarring.
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It would seem jarring because this weird contemporary idea that women can match men in a one-on-one physical confrontation is simply bullshit for all but a tiny section of women (of which a female Bond could possibly be a member. But not any of the actresses they'd cast for her) vs a relatively small section of men (so all Bond's enemies would have to be wimps basically).
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Informative)
BS. Guys just do different types of/more exercise because that's the societal norm. If you asked a female to do the work every time you needed something carried or a jar opened you'd be a wimp too. Sure testosterone plays a role, but almost any woman can get strong if they eat and train right. And by strong I mean sincerely fuck up 99% of the male population. Why? Because most people don't exercise to their potential.
This is very disingenuous. Of course many women could become stronger than the average man if they were involved in an Olympic-class workout/diet regimen, but even a very large, very strong woman will have difficulty matching a man's strength, if he's even doing casual strength-conditioning.
Sexual dimorphism is not caused by "societal norms", it is caused by genetics and specifically testosterone.
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Dr. Who coming back as a male twelve bloody times when he has no control over his new form is just loaded dice. Can you explain to me why Dr. Who as a female doesn't make sense?
You gave the reason yourself. While he may not have control, there clearly is control. He hasn't come back as a banana either, nor black, nor with four arms. After as many as 11 iterations, it would be foolish to think that the dice being loaded isn't canon.
There are lots of female actors who would be fantastic as the Doctor.
Then write a story for an alternate universe, but leave this one alone. Instead of killing the doctor we know and love to get a female doctor, just get a female doctor.
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Interesting)
John Barroman is actually pitching for a spinoff show with his Captain Jack character traveling through time with River Song.
I would much rather they create a spinoff with a Time Lady than change the Doctor into a woman.
The biggest reason for this is that if they change the Doctor to a woman, the ratings will be big for an episode or two, but then since the whole premise of the show had been upended, ratings will crash and it'll get cancelled.
I'd rather they try out a new show than mess with the concept of the original show.
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Exactly,
It's a Doctor, not a Nurse.
Re:Really? Political correctness? (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, what kind of sexist demands for Doctor Who to be a woman? Certainly not a single woman I've ever met. They want a charming sexy man, and who 'd blame them? :)
But those same sexists would probably call that "sexism" too.
Doctor Who is a man. I don't go demand that female roles be played by men either!
The whole thing is fucking retarded, and a textbook example of what happens to a good cause, when a bunch of monkey-see-monkey-do passive-thinking morons go overboard with it.
The women who originally started the equal right movement would probably die just to turn in their graves.
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If you're concerned about political correctness making it's way onto Doctor Who, that tardis has long since sailed. It's not only gay-friendly to a fault, it's eco-friendly and anti-militarist. UNIT doesn't count -- our brave boys in berets represent a military reduced to its proper scope: gamely attempting to repulse cheesy alien invaders while someone with more brains figures out what to do about them.
In Dr. Who the military isn't some kind of awesome war machine, it's more like occupational therapy for
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Let's play the "can you spot the differences?" game:
Vegan: The (11th) Doctor likes fish fingers and custard.
Tranny: Unless they camp it up, this could already hold true and we wouldn't know.
Furry: He already stole a TARDIS so he could hang out with evolved apes from Earth - Pretty damned close conceptually, minus the need for suits.
Black: Melody already did that one. Next.
Lesbian: Hello, Jack Harkness? T
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Apparently you wouldn't watch it, but I sure would. It would make me more likely to watch it. Half the human race is female, and I know lots more female Doctor Who fans than male. So what on earth makes you think that a female Doctor wouldn't get watched? I bet even you would watch it, protesting the whole time. And if you wouldn't, is that an aspect of your character you should be bragging about? What difference does it make? It's a bloody TV show! You make decisions about what to put in a
WHAT AND CALL IT NURSE WHO ?? (Score:5, Funny)
That is just absurd !!
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Re:WHAT AND CALL IT NURSE WHO ?? (Score:5, Insightful)
That is just absurd !!
Not nearly as absurd as his archenemy being The Mistress.
Re:WHAT AND CALL IT NURSE WHO ?? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:WHAT AND CALL IT NURSE WHO ?? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:WHAT AND CALL IT NURSE WHO ?? (Score:4, Insightful)
A joke is technically something intended to make you laugh. It is not necessarily factually accurate, or even representative of the beliefs and opinions of the teller.
Ever notice (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ever notice (Score:4, Insightful)
From here [penny-arcade.com]:
We learn how to act, and how to accept things, through our fiction, and we have a gigantic problem with women in authority. By creating a female Doctor, and then giving her interesting male companions and having them work together without falling mutually in love, having sex, or keeping her locked in the male gaze, we could begin to work through some of the issues our society has with women in authority.
It may seem silly to pin these hopes on pop culture, but remember that it took Star Trek to bring us one of the first scripted kisses on television. A female Doctor wouldn't just be fun, it would be important. It could be a way to teach young men how to treat powerful women with respect, a lesson that is rarely discussed well, anywhere.
Re:Ever notice (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't accept the premise. We have lots of powerful women in our society. Not enough, granted, but the ones we do have don't seem to have trouble being taken seriously by the majority of people.
Re:Ever notice (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes indeed. Everything, and I mean everything must be co-opted to support the feminist cause or it has no right to exist.
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but remember that it took Star Trek to bring us one of the first scripted interracial kisses on television.
Fixed. Silly cow.
It could be a way to teach young men how to treat powerful women with respect, a lesson that is rarely discussed well, anywhere.
Um, how about respecting all women? Like the strong female human characters who've been the Doctor's companions since 2005 (actually since 1987, and prior to that as well if you ignore Mel)?
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That rather over-emphasizes the importance of fiction. I learned how to act, and how to accept things, from my parents and peers -- you know, the REAL WORLD. Most people do.
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People watch Doctor Who primarily for entertainment. When you start forcing changes, it feels forced
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You got a problem with American TV, write to the networks. Stop badgering a British icon.
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It was bad enough with Russel T. Davies ramming it down our throats.
Re:Ever notice (Score:5, Insightful)
The whole point of Dr. Who (well, one of the points) is that the female assistants keep on showing him up...it's a showcase for smart, self-empowered women.
Re:Ever notice (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ever notice (Score:5, Insightful)
it's a showcase for smart, self-empowered women.
It's a common trope of portraying men as bumbling fools in need of a woman to steer them through life. Witness just about every sitcom and police procedural in existence. There would be much hell raised if a female doctor was constantly being upstaged by a male companion in the same manner.
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I remember some of the old assistants being far from helpless. What about Ace who used to blow things up? And Leela who always had a knife to stab people with?
Re:Ever notice (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Ever notice / Fluff opinion piece? (Score:3)
It is probably a fluff opinion piece, just to stir up some mild controversy -- so she got paid this week. Ever noticed how Magazine articles on BBC news are similar, ask some brain-dead question with a hint of controversy, discuss it a bit, then back down from the controversy without reaching a definite conclusion. This is obviously what keeps 'magazine' readers entertained, and everyone gets paid. It is not to be taken seriously in any way.
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I would simply argue that it would hurt the show. Male fictional characters should stay male. If you want a show about a strong female- start a NEW show about a strong female character. I don't want the show addressing:
-The whole idea of a man trapped inside a woman's body.
-Is the new doctor attracted to men or women?
Please let the show just be cheap sci-fi and not about social re-engineering.
No (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No (Score:4, Funny)
I'm tired of these motherfucking daleks on my motherfucking ship.
Re:No (Score:5, Funny)
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Neither Samuel L. Jackson nor Chuck Norris could ever be the Doctor. No one would buy the series lasting beyond the one or two episodes needed for them to kick the shit out of every conceivable bad guy in the universe.
Only a silly uneducated Yank would write this (Score:5, Funny)
Why does anyone like this show? (Score:2, Interesting)
It seems awful to me. The writing is bad. The characters are bad. The plots are bad. The props/special effects are bad.
Is it something we Ironically like because its so bad or does it have good aspects I've over looked?
Don't get me wrong. I love science fiction. But this seems like garbage.
Anyone have an idea as to what I'm missing here?
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Re:Why does anyone like this show? (Score:4, Insightful)
My Uncle has been taping the show since it's inception, and he owns every book that came out prior to 1992. He's hated every single Doctor since 8, and calls the current show all manner of names. He'd agree with you that everything currently playing is garbage, but then again, he thinks the only good think on TV these days is H20.
Re:Why does anyone like this show? (Score:5, Insightful)
In spite of its legendarily low budget in... well, just about all of it prior to the Christopher Ecclestone series, it's been some groundbreaking science fiction. Oh it's had its dud episodes, you might need to suspend disbelief more than you would for most other TV shows, and the special effects should be taken as a symbolic gesture rather than actually looking like something, but it does actually do some pretty interesting stuff.
That said, it's not everyone's cup of tea. Culturally, the show is very British, so Americans don't tend to "get" it as much as the British or Australians.
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The series has been going on for so long that it has jumped the shark a dozen times but then got back on the bike and recovered to do something well worth watching again fo
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Oh please. Blink is as well written as anything written for a weekly TV show. Which is amazing since the lead is a female and Moffat can't write females (which happens to be the best reason for not having a female doctor).
Yes there are also terrible episodes.
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It seems awful to me. The writing is bad. The characters are bad. The plots are bad. The props/special effects are bad.
Is it something we Ironically like because its so bad or does it have good aspects I've over looked?
Don't get me wrong. I love science fiction. But this seems like garbage.
Anyone have an idea as to what I'm missing here?
Those sort of comments made me do the beating up in High School. "Talk shit about my Doctor will you?" *Punch in the eye* "EXTERMINATE!" *kick* "EXTERMINATE!" *kick*
But seriously, most of what you said is what makes Doctor Who so charming. At least old Doctor Who. But they used to do 3 hour story arcs, now it's a 45 min story.
Re:Why does anyone like this show? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also it has no explosions caused by bullets hitting a car tire, no bodybuilders screaming slogans only three words long yet still incomprehensable, no storylines designed to last for 20 seasons only to be cancelled after the second season, nobody trying to be "cool" or "edgy" or "bad-ass". Quite frankly, it's a breath of fresh air amongst so many sci-fi series desperately trying to appease pubescent boys.
I thought Dr. Who would be tacky/cheesy/lame as well until I actually saw a whole episode, now I'm hooked.
Re:Why does anyone like this show? (Score:4, Interesting)
While I try to refrain from insulting entertainment by insinuating that it's aimed at pubescent boys, and while this might make me seem one in your eyes, I feel that Dr. Who actually is cheesy and lame.
I had avoided the show for various vague reasons until recently, when a friend of mine forced me to watch the first episodes of the most recent series to change my mind. While the writing was rather interesting and the retro visuals had enough charm to make me understand why someone might like it, there are some serious problems with the show.
First, I was annoyed that The Doctor is portrayed as somewhat all-powerful for no reason at all. He can threaten his enemies and make appeals with no credentials whatsoever. I kind of understand that scenes where he says that "the Earth is protected" by him are perhaps awe-inspiring to a 50's born nerd who has watched all of the previous 200 episodes, but I really don't get why the aliens he is currently facing won't just incinerate him on the spot. To an outside observer, it simply seems like a lame would-be superhero saving the day by just boasting about it. This is actually repeated twice during the first three episodes.
Secondly, while all of the previous posters are talking about strong female leads, I was left with pretty mixed feelings about this character in the most recent show. Of course she is shown as intelligent and resourceful, but at the same time, she is shown to be a slave to his charms, eloping the very day before her wedding. The convenience of the former is rather astounding, as the series of course contains time travel and implies that the female lead can experience a whole new life, whisked away to adventure by an exciting man, and still return to her life with the random beta (or absence of it, depending on the attitude of the scriptwriters), like nothing had happened.
Is this really what being a strong woman is about?
Re:Why does anyone like this show? (Score:5, Insightful)
garbage
It seems you are not British, so perhaps you see it differently to us. A lot of the Russell T. Davies stuff was cheesy crap, but Moffat's episodes are good. Many of them are quite dark and produce a real sense of drama.
It works both ways of course. A lot of US shows that people rave about seem pretty bad to us too. Many of the good ones have British actors in the major roles.
Re:Why does anyone like this show? (Score:5, Insightful)
Really depends on what you've seen. A show that's spanned half a century has some good ones and some bad ones.
If you want to check out the best of what the new series can offer, try The Girl in the Fireplace [wikipedia.org], or Blink [wikipedia.org].
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Nostalgia. Try a couple of the Tom Baker episodes from the 1970s: say The Talons of Weng-Chiang [wikipedia.org], The Ark in Space [wikipedia.org], or Genesis of the Daleks [wikipedia.org]. If you don't like those, then Doctor Who is probably just not for you. (I cannot recommend anything from the more recent seasons because I haven't gone out of my way to find them in the US.)
If you are looking for great production values and special effects, the Doctor Who is definitely not for you. It's always been campy, yet cerebral. Much like classic Star Trek, the
No, just no. (Score:2)
From people who don't watch the show... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that people who want to see the next Doctor be some sort of handicapped post-op lesbian hermaphrodite never watch the show but just want to push some sort of agenda to get some checkbox filled somewhere. They would never watch a single episode with their politically-corrected Doctor but that's not really the point.
I know people want gender equality but.. (Score:2)
If you ignore the reincarnation aspect and treat it as separate actors playing the same role you might ask if it's time for James Bond to be female?
It might be time for stories to be written about female secret agents, but that doesn't mean the one agent you've written about has to change genders.
BTW, nothing wrong with changing genders and in scifi scenarios where it was already written (lots of Ian Banks books for instance) it's welcome that the character might become female or male. If anyone wants to t
"13th regeneration" (Score:4, Informative)
the character's 13th regeneration could be his last
Okay, first, the article means his TWELFTH regeneration, his thirteenth INCARNATION. Secondly, it's already canon that doctors can regenerate far more than twelve times [wikia.com].
Or maybe.... (Score:5, Insightful)
So somehow changing an indubitably male character into a woman is a 'victory' for women?
Perhaps we could just work on creating an interesting, engaging, successful female character and celebrate her? Or celebrate one of the many strong female characters already present in media?
Perhaps there's a moral in here for the whole feminist movement.
How about a new SF series then? (Score:5, Interesting)
Surely a science fiction concept with a female lead can be developed outside of the current Dr. Who franchise. Or, a spin-off series featuring a female timelord can be developed in parallel, like Star Trek did with Voyager. The can have separate adventures and then guest star from time to time on each others' shows. Seems like you get more audience that way. Why is there a need to take an established character and turn it into something completely different?
Dr. Who will always be Tom Baker in my imagination anyway.
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Or, a spin-off series featuring a female...
If I can conveniently cut you off just there, there was The Sarah Jane Adventures [wikipedia.org]. More for kids, admittedly, but still. There's also Gwen Cooper in Torchwood (essentially joint lead with Captain Jack, just minus superpowers). And she's a mother!
Oh, shut up. (Score:5, Insightful)
Jennifer Finney Boylan writes in the NYT that for those who did not get beaten up in high school...
Whining about diversity and coming out with the stereotyping right out of the gate(and yes, it's a quote from TFA, I did check). Maybe she thought that was cute?
I had a nice rant with lots of big words about diversity not about messing with established characters and missing the point and all that, but you know what? Screw it.
Why should we bloody-nosed, inhaler puffing masses give a fuck what this imbecile has to say?
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Whining about diversity and coming out with the stereotyping right out of the gate(and yes, it's a quote from TFA, I did check). Maybe she thought that was cute?
FYI she's transexual, so 'she' grew up as a boy. What you say is correct, but that just adds another twist to the mystery of her insanity.
One word... (Score:4, Insightful)
Makes no sense ... (Score:3)
I realize she's pushing for gender equality here, but the Doctor is male.
He had a wife and kids, and in the newer series someone made a partial clone of him which is now kind of his daughter. There were female time lords, be he isn't one. So why would his regenerations turn him into a female?
Now, I don't know how they'd drum up a TARDIS for her, but Jenny [wikipedia.org] should still be out there in the universe.
I realize that with Doctor Who you may not need to worry about being strictly canonical, but there's never been anything to suggest (that I know of) that regenerations could flip your gender.
No, it has already been done (Score:5, Funny)
The Doctor should never be a woman. We have seen how that turns out in the spoof "Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death", where the female Doctor notices the sonic screwdriver has "three settings".
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_and_the_Curse_of_Fatal_Death [wikipedia.org]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p18DKN27IZQ [youtube.com]
Re:and how do you resolve the paradox (Score:5, Informative)
It has already been established in canon that they can.
"See that snake. The mark of The Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration. Didn't feel like himself unless he had that tattoo. Or herself a couple of times. Oo hoo! She was a bad girl!"
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Don't get me wrong, now that it's there, I would accept a female Doctor, but up to that point there had been no indication that time lords ever changed sexes. With sex being a changeable characteristic, labels like "mother" and "father" get confusing and they've previously been used. What do you call a time lord who fathered you while he
Re:Time Lord (Score:5, Funny)
The clue is in the title. Who ever heard of a "Time Lady"?!
Um, everyone who ever watched season 16 [wikipedia.org]?
Re: (Score:2)
Romanadvoratrelundar (A.K.A. Romana).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romana [wikipedia.org]
Re:Time Lord (Score:4, Informative)
Romana, played by the rather lovely Lala Ward.