Change, my dear...

Change, my dear, and not a moment too soon? (As Colin Baker’s newly regenerated Doctor once said). I have to say I was somewhat shocked at the announcement of Jodie Whittaker as the next Doctor. In fact, I was mildly irritated as I was needing to drive from Liverpool back up to Scotland and delayed my journey when it became apparent that Roger Federer would win Wimbledon in double quick time only to have to endure the long-winded trophy ceremony, some extended clips from BBC Sport and Boris Becker prattling on in the studio before we got a minute long clip to introduce the new Doctor that appeared to resemble a Scottish Widows commercial. Well, to paraphrase Charlton Heston in The Planet of the Apes: “Oh my God! They finally really did it!”

I did ponder about the possibility of a female Doctor back in February when Peter Capaldi announced he was leaving. I did get a couple of things right with that (such as the new Doctor would be someone from Broadchurch.) I think my concern back then was that they would plump for a stunt-casting exercise to try and boost the viewing figures. They have done this before, notably when they invited Kylie Minogue to appear in a Christmas episode. That had record viewing figures but most of those extra festive viewers soon disappeared and I could hardly blame them for what was a rather poor episode (aside from the excellent Bernard Cribbins – a somewhat more inspired casting decision). Had they chosen someone like Miranda Hart or Sue Perkins as the new Doctor I think it would have been a shameless stunt but this is not the case with Jodie Whittaker. She is a serious actor and the couple of things I’ve seen her in were pretty good (Black Mirror and Attack the Block). I’m also prepared to forget her appearance in St Trinian’s as I have chosen to wipe that travesty remake of a beloved 1950’s British comedy completely from my mind.

After the initial shock of the announcement of the New Who I’ve rather come to like the idea. My children are somewhat mixed on it: Raymond is fine with the casting but would have preferred to find out on Christmas Day, Sophia seems fairly nonplussed about it and Jake’s main concern was that they would paint the TARDIS pink. The odd thing is that this isn’t actually the biggest change they have ever had in the show. It is arguable that changing the lead actor for the first time was the biggest change as that had never been the original intention but the biggest change actually came in the early 1970s when it changed from being the adventures of a mysterious alien roaming time and space to a somewhat less mysterious alien acting as a scientific advisor to a military unit investigating paranormal and extra-terrestrial threats around England’s home counties. It has changes several times since but casting a female Doctor should shake up the dynamics of the show and keep it fresh.

I think what finally sold me on the idea were comments that Chris Chibnall made that he had wanted a female Doctor for a while – which means that he has a proper dramatic concept for the programme rather than being under pressure from the BBC or pandering to whims from commentators without regard to any dramatic concept. What will be telling is who the new companions are. I rather like the Doctor to have a boy/girl pairing (Steven/Vicki, Ben/Polly, Jamie/Victoria or even Amy/Rory) and I could see it working very well with a female Doctor. Remember that the stories are usually told from the companions perspective so regardless of the choice of lead actor they will influence what we see on screen. Of course, we will have to wait and see Jodie and the new team in action but I, for one, am looking forward to it.