There has been some debate of late as to whether or not Doctor Who should cast a female actor as the Doctor in the near future, following one of the Doctor’s regenerations. Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor, weighed in on this topic lately, and he’s against it.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I speak now as a fan who grew up watching it,” he told ABC Australia. “I have trouble with the idea of a female Doctor, only because I reckon if you’re born on Gallifrey a man, you’re probably a male Time Lord.”
Davison goes on to say that swapping the gender roles of the Doctor and his companion could have a negative effect on the character dynamics that are so vital to the series.
“It seems to me if you reverse that, if you have an uncertain, fallible female Doctor with a really strong male companion, you’ve got more of a stereotype than anything else.”
In the Neil Gaiman written episode of Doctor Who, “The Doctor’s Wife,” Gaiman planted the idea that gender is fluid between Time Lord regenerations. Showrunner Steven Moffat confirmed this theory further when the Series 9 big bad, Missy, was revealed to be The Master, the longtime nemesis of the Doctor, who had regenerated into a woman’s body.
Moffat cast Peter Capaldi to replace Matt Smith as the new Doctor, but has teased that a female Doctor could appear in future series of the show.
Doctor Who Series 9 is currently filming, and will be released later in 2015.
