The Thirteenth Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker!

The new Doctor Who was announced yesterday morning (California time) as the first ever woman to play the role: Jodie Whittaker!

I was more excited by this announcement than I might have thought! I don't have problems with Doctor Who being played by a woman, a black man, a gay person, or whoever. All I want is for Doctor Who to be interesting and vital. The reaction from fans was intense, including Francesco Francavilla above who did this nifty image of Whittaker as the Doctor from the teaser. For this fans who hate this change, I say: you don't have to watch. If you want a male Doctor there are hundreds of hours of past adventures you can view or listen to.

I have watched Doctor Who off and on since 1973. I watched the start of the Russell T Davies era and a handful of Tennant episodes. But I haven't become a hardcore fan until the Moffat era and Matt Smith arrived as the Tenth Doctor! He was so wonderfully comical, fun, and physical in the role. Smith was able to play an old man in a young man's body so perfectly. I loved his episodes so much I bought a Matt Smith blu ray collection with a special album format. This was my gateway drug. I suddenly got why Doctor Who is loved by fans all over the world. I even started watching classic Doctor Who to see what I missed. I got the Troughton connection to Matt Smith.

I was very excited to see Peter Capaldi take over the role in Season 8. I loved him in The Thick of It. His Doctor had a rough beginning in the first few episodes; unlike Matt Smith, he was not overly heroic and a bit too mean at the beginning. But Capaldi's Doctor evolved over time and by the time Pearl Mackie arrived, they were a delight this past season. I hate to see him go but I am very much looking forward to see Capaldi team up with the First Doctor in the Christmas Special this year.

It's way to early to tell how Jodie Whittaker will play the Thirteenth Doctor! But I think this is going to increase the popularity of Doctor Who. From the clips I have seen of her acting, she can be dramatic, funny, quirky, etc - combined with her relative youth (mid-thirties) this is going to be very appealing. While I loved Capaldi a lot - and what I really appreciated was that he was 180 degrees different than Matt Smith - I think a younger Doctor just naturally brings in more viewership. And with The Doctor being a woman it may bring new stories to the Tardis.

Onward and upward! Nuff Said!