Doctor Who: Christopher Eccleston Says Series Still a "Boy's Club"

Doctor Who's Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, returns to the franchise this month in a new [...]

By Jamie Lovett

Doctor Who's Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, returns to the franchise this month in a new audio adventure from Big Finish Productions (though he has no plans to return to the television series). During the lead into The Ninth Doctor Adventures' debut, Eccleston has shared his thoughts on Jodie Whittaker becoming the first woman to play the Doctor. Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine, Eccleston adds that he believes Doctor Who should go further by having the Doctor encounter heroes of the feminist movement and hiring more women to write for the series.

"I would very much like the Doctor to meet Emily Davison, who threw herself in front of the Epsom Derby winner and was one of the forerunners of the feminist movement and a martyr for it," Eccleston says. "I think that'd be extraordinary for him to mix with her and Emmeline Pankhurst, and explore that. You know, it's great that we now have a female Doctor, and I think we should take that further in the way we look at history. Look at it through a female lens.

"Russell T Davies writes the Doctor as one Doctor; Steven Moffat writes him as another; Rob Shearman writes him, he's another. Bit of a boys' club, though. We need to address that. We need some more Cyberwomen, we need female writers. It needs to be addressed, particularly as the Doctor has such a pronounced, for want of a better phrase, feminine side, and such an enthusiastic engagement with the female.

He also reiterated his call for literal Cyberwomen in the show as counterparts to the iconic Cybermen. "I think it's high time we had a Cyberwoman, I must say that. I think we really need to address that," Eccleston says. "The Doctor with a Cyberwoman... that dynamic, feminine element of himself, which he uses so well, his flirtatious nature, his admiration for Gaia and the female would be great with a Cyberwoman. A malign Cyberwoman."

Current Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall did write such a character in an episode of the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood titled, appropriately enough, "Cyberwoman." The scantily-clad character, who mainly was human in appearance, from that episode probably isn't what Eccleston has in mind.

Doctor Who is currently filming its thirteenth season. Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers releases this month from Big Finish, beginning with "Sphere of Influence." You can listen to a clip from the episode here.

(h/t Digital Spy)

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