Doctor Who Christmas Special introduces the first female Doctor

Another Doctor Who Christmas special has come and gone, taking it with Peter Capaldi and putting a female Doctor in the TARDIS for the first time.

It’s always sad when a Doctor that fans have grown to love leaves the TARDIS and regenerates. Peter Capaldi has been The Doctor since Christmas of 2014. And fans have grown to love Capaldi’s darker take on The Doctor’s personality. Saying goodbye never gets easier.

But this regeneration is a first because it’s the first time that The Doctor has regenerated as a woman. Throughout the 50 year history of the show women have relegated to lesser roles. The first Doctor’s casually sexist quips in the Christmas special were a fun tongue in cheek nod to the show’s rather sexist history.

Poking fun at itself as the first female Doctor takes the helm of the TARDIS shows that the show’s creative team has a sense of humor. And it also shows that they recognize the importance of finally showing a female incarnation of The Doctor.

Some critics felt that the banter between the two Doctors went on too long and was strained. But  the generational banter was charming. And the perfect set up for introducing Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor. It was also nice to see Mark Gatiss’s roll was a call back to The Brigadier. Newer fans may have to Google that one in order to get that reference.

The End Of An Era

The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special marks the end of an era both in front of and behind the camera. Jodie Whittaker’s arrival coincides with the departure of Steven Moffat as showrunner. Steven Moffat was the showrunner for the last seven years. He’s als been writing for the show for the last 12 years.

His vision for the show swung from great to terrible at various points. He’s often been criticized for his poor development of female characters. While some of the best female characters came into the universe during his tenure like River Song, Amy Pond, and Missy the potential of their characters was often never realized. And eventually all the strong, vivid, unique female characters were troped down to just foils for The Doctor.

No female character on the show was wasted as badly as Clara Oswald. When Clara was introduced she had the potential to be a very exciting companion that would be a great match for Matt Smith’s energetic, bombastic and brilliant Doctor. But then Clara was dumbed down and relegated to sidekick status, just another potentially amazing character who fell victim to Moffat.

At times Moffat’s vision for the show was innovative and original. But unfortunately his leadership of the show was inconsistent at best, tropey at worst. With a female Doctor arriving for the first time and his track record of totally bungling female characters it seems this was definitely the right time for him to go.

New Showrunner

The incoming showrunner is Chris Chibnall, who has a proven track record both in science fiction and in writing compelling and multi-faceted material for female characters. He’s the one who cast Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor. And he was the showrunner on the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood, which had a strong lead female character in Gwen Cooper. She and computer genius Toshiko were the perfect balance for Captain Jack Harkness. Chibnall also wrote for earlier Doctors played by Matt Smith and David Tennant. So he’s very familiar with the mythology and universe of Doctor Who.

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Chibnall also created the smash drama series Broadchurch, which shows that he can develop storylines and characters and balance humor with darker drama. He worked with Jodie Whittaker on Broadchurch so he has a good idea of her range of an actress. It will be very exciting to see how these two reinvent The Doctor and move the character and the storylines forward.

Series 11 of Doctor Who will premiere sometime in 2018 with new showrunner Chris Chibnall at helm and Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor in the TARDIS with new companions on the way too.