This would be fine. As long as he remains a man the rest is pretty fluid although of course there are character traits one expects from a doctor. And rightly so. But colour and sexuality are no issue. Gender is.
I'm afraid I don't understand how gender could cause any more problems in the mind of the viewer than the other two. Is there really that much of a difference?
I'm afraid I don't understand how gender could cause any more problems in the mind of the viewer than the other two. Is there really that much of a difference?
You've clearly led a sheltered life. Men are the sort of chaps who enjoy a pipe and pottering in sheds. Women chaps are the ones with all the chocolate.
You've clearly led a sheltered life. Men are the sort of chaps who enjoy a pipe and pottering in sheds. Women chaps are the ones with all the chocolate.
You've just ruined Who for me. It's not longer an adventure in time and space, it's just some bloke with an overactive imagination pottering about in his shed.
Nah, I don't think it would be right for a character who's been male for 50 years to suddenly swap genders. And I think it would give him a bit of a complex...
I'm afraid I don't understand how gender could cause any more problems in the mind of the viewer than the other two. Is there really that much of a difference?
In my mind yes. But its all to do with how one views the character. For instance Paterson Joseph playing a gay, black Doctor with a persona similar to that from peep show would work for me. Chris Tucker as he played a gay black man in The Fifth Element playing the doctor would be a car crash. However I think of no scenario or characterization where a female doctor would be anything other than ruinous.
Let’s start a campaign for a female Batman, James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. Or a MALE Miss Marple, Jane Eyre or Eliza Doolittle.
Come on, it’s stupid. The Doctor is a man.
Because some misguided if sometimes well meaning types view strongly defined, well written, classic female characters as progressive, sacred and not to,be tampered with whereas similar male characters are viewed as part of an oppressive restrictive example of patriarchy that must be challenged at all costs.
The same goes for characters from black African or ethnic minority backgrounds. There is apparently nothing wrong with a black man playing a historically white character or shoehorning historically inaccurate representations of race and culture into films and TV. But if you ever suggested a white man play Shaft? You might as well pop a white hood on your head you imperialist privileged pig.
I'd like to see Sue Perkins as the doctor, if not in the series then maybe as a Comic Relief/Children in Need type one-off.
As far as Proper Actresses go, I think Brenda Blethyn would make a great female doctor, but that would be going back to the more eccentric doctor persona I remember from my childhood
The original Doctor back in 1963 could easily have been female - the show would have worked just as well. And we've seen some great female characters - including female timelords - over the past 50 years.
But the inescapable fact is that the first doctor was male and each regeneration since has been male. The character is undoubtedly male! I simply don't understand why the people campaigning for Sue Perkins have such a problem with accepting this fact.
The original Doctor back in 1963 could easily have been female - the show would have worked just as well. And we've seen some great female characters - including female timelords - over the past 50 years.
But the inescapable fact is that the first doctor was male and each regeneration since has been male. The character is undoubtedly male! I simply don't understand why the people campaigning for Sue Perkins have such a problem with accepting this fact.
No, no, no, no, no, and no dot org. Let's just leave him male, straight, an adult (people have suggested changing this, I kid you not) and preferably white! :D I can imagine _maybe_ changing my mind about him being black but certainly not the others.
I can't see it happening, but apparently none other than Doctor Who's creator told JNT in the early 80's that he should consider making the Dotor a female character in the next generation. Apparently Sydney was concerned by the direction the show was going in and worried too about dropping viewing figures. I saw it on the internet- so it must be true:)
It just goes to prove that in terms of the show if the time comes when they cast a female doctor it will be like the red cross daubed on the house of a plague victim. A sign that the end is nigh and times are desperate. Alot of people misuse the term 'jumping the shark' in the same way they do 'deus ex machina' but this would be the definition of it. Changing or messing with a fundamental element of the show to chase viewers shows a program in big trouble and it never works. When they announce a female doctor it will be our own version of the moment Fonz decided to get on that jet ski.
It just goes to prove that in terms of the show if the time comes when they cast a female doctor it will be like the red cross daubed on the house of a plague victim. A sign that the end is nigh and times are desperate. Alot of people misuse the term 'jumping the shark' in the same way they do 'deus ex machina' but this would be the definition of it. Changing or messing with a fundamental element of the show to chase viewers shows a program in big trouble and it never works. When they announce a female doctor it will be our own version of the moment Fonz decided to get on that jet ski.
I agree. And if for some reason it wasn't ruined by the time they decided to cast the female Doctor, it would be shortly afterwards!
No, no, no, no, no, and no dot org. Let's just leave him male, straight, an adult (people have suggested changing this, I kid you not) and preferably white! :D I can imagine _maybe_ changing my mind about him being black but certainly not the others.
I think the black issue is separate because society still foists different roles on men and women but ostensibly doesn't on black people and white people.
If I dare suggest a newsagent test: count the number of magazines that a man on the street would consider aimed primarily or exclusively at women or men. Then count the number that would be considered aimed similarly at either white people or black people. The former will be a large number, the latter probably zero but definitely negligible.
Comments
I'm afraid I don't understand how gender could cause any more problems in the mind of the viewer than the other two. Is there really that much of a difference?
Plus she's not an actor either.
And the character should remain male.
You've clearly led a sheltered life. Men are the sort of chaps who enjoy a pipe and pottering in sheds. Women chaps are the ones with all the chocolate.
You've just ruined Who for me. It's not longer an adventure in time and space, it's just some bloke with an overactive imagination pottering about in his shed.
What he said.
Come on, it’s stupid. The Doctor is a man.
In my mind yes. But its all to do with how one views the character. For instance Paterson Joseph playing a gay, black Doctor with a persona similar to that from peep show would work for me. Chris Tucker as he played a gay black man in The Fifth Element playing the doctor would be a car crash. However I think of no scenario or characterization where a female doctor would be anything other than ruinous.
Because some misguided if sometimes well meaning types view strongly defined, well written, classic female characters as progressive, sacred and not to,be tampered with whereas similar male characters are viewed as part of an oppressive restrictive example of patriarchy that must be challenged at all costs.
The same goes for characters from black African or ethnic minority backgrounds. There is apparently nothing wrong with a black man playing a historically white character or shoehorning historically inaccurate representations of race and culture into films and TV. But if you ever suggested a white man play Shaft? You might as well pop a white hood on your head you imperialist privileged pig.
As far as Proper Actresses go, I think Brenda Blethyn would make a great female doctor, but that would be going back to the more eccentric doctor persona I remember from my childhood
She's got a new sitcom of her own in preparation. Sit through this preview if you can.
I doubt even lesbians would find it funny. Painful.,maybe.
But the inescapable fact is that the first doctor was male and each regeneration since has been male. The character is undoubtedly male! I simply don't understand why the people campaigning for Sue Perkins have such a problem with accepting this fact.
Exactly.
A female Doctor won't happen either.
So has it already happened or at least proved possible?
I think the black issue is separate because society still foists different roles on men and women but ostensibly doesn't on black people and white people.
If I dare suggest a newsagent test: count the number of magazines that a man on the street would consider aimed primarily or exclusively at women or men. Then count the number that would be considered aimed similarly at either white people or black people. The former will be a large number, the latter probably zero but definitely negligible.