Thoughts on the Doctor and Gender

Got into an argument with a fellow "Doctor Who" fan the other day. The crux of the argument was over whether or not the Doctor could (or should) regenerate into a female version next time.

In a nutshell, I'm in the camp of the Doctor is a guy. Move on. There's no need to have Time Lords gender-swap when they regenerate. It's not necessary to the story, it's not really part of the past concepts of the Time Lords (though that stuff gets rewritten all the time), and "it ain't broke, why fix it". It just smacks of pandering otherwise.

That said, I am behind the idea of Doctor Who getting the strong female characters. And I'm not talking about companions. Let's face it, the Doctor's companions are window-dressing. They're there to give a "human perspective" for the audience. And, frankly, they're often just to get the male audience to stare at the pretty girls.

That said, Doctor Who has a strong female audience and, frankly, that audience deserves respect.

Is the right idea to give that audience a female Doctor? Hm. I don't care for that concept and my opinion isn't going to change. Ideally, I'd like the writers to revive the Time Lords as a plot device and introduce a Time Lady who could fill that role.

The flaw with that is, of course, that such a character will be viewed as a "faux-Doctor" and a placeholder. Such a character won't get any respect. The writers will probably overcompensate by making her a Mary Sue along the lines of River Song.

I'd personally like to see the mythos of the Doctor Who universe expanded, though. I think there's room for more characters than a mad time-traveler in a rickety box jaunting about the Universe. The "Sarah Jane Chronicles" proved it's possible to expand the scope. Similarly, "Torchwood" proved it could be done (though Torchwood... yeah, moving on).

Why not re-introduce the Time Lords? A few survivors from the Time War are about. They've been avoiding the Doctor for the simple reason that he obliterated their people in an act of genocide. So you've got some Time Lords who have had to live outside of their perfect society for some time.

Cue the new character. She's been out and about a bit. She's got her own TARDIS - either a more advanced model than the Doctor's Type 40 or, better yet, one she's grown/built herself, so she's still working out the kinks in it.

This offers the writers an opportunity to explore new and different ideas. Maybe this character doesn't depend exclusively on a sonic screwdriver as her magic wand. Maybe she uses other tools in addition to a sonic screwdriver. Maybe her TARDIS has a working chameleon circuit. Maybe it's chameleon circuit isn't always... ah... predictable and reliable.

She needs to be brilliant. That's a given. She needs to be flawed too. The Doctor has his terrible flaws and any new character needs good, but subtle, flaws to sustain an audience interest. And she needs a good name.

This is where my little "wish world" falls apart. How do you come up with a good, iconic name that matches the Doctor? It can't be too derivative, so calling her "The Professor" or somesuch is just not going to work.

It doesn't have to be a title/name, I suppose, but it really ought to be in order to fit in the universe.

I'm really only adamant that this new character should NOT be Romana, if I had any say.

Oh well. I guess it's pointless musing.