Two Sundays ago, the BBC announced the new Doctor Who. They named Jodie Whittaker, the first actress to take over the role in the character’s decades-long history. Before Whittaker, Peter Capaldi was the Doctor, and I remember that before Capaldi was hired, there was a big conversation about how the Doctor should be someone other than just another white dude. It didn’t happen with Capaldi, but the BBC took note and I felt like Whittaker was a good choice for this “the future is female” moment. Of course, I’m saying that without being a Whovian, and without any particular attachment to this series. So how does someone with an attachment to the series feel? The fifth Doctor, and the Doctor from the 1980s, thinks Whittaker is a bad call. Because she’s a girl. This guy’s name is Peter Davison.

Peter Davison, a former star of Doctor Who, has lamented the loss of a role model for boys after the part of the Doctor was given to a female actor for the first time. Jodie Whittaker was revealed on Sunday as the 13th Doctor, in a move largely praised but which left some infuriated.

Among those who have criticised the casting is Davison, who played the fifth Doctor. Speaking before an appearance at Comic-Con in San Diego, Davison said Whittaker, 35, was a “terrific actress” who would do “wonderful job” and that he hoped those who found it hard to adjust would watch “with an open mind”.

But the 66-year-old told the Press Association: “If I feel any doubts, it’s the loss of a role model for boys, who I think Doctor Who is vitally important for. So I feel a bit sad about that, but I understand the argument that you need to open it up. As a viewer, I kind of like the idea of the Doctor as a boy but then maybe I’m an old fashioned dinosaur – who knows?”

Colin Baker, 74, the sixth Doctor, accused Davison of talking “absolute rubbish”. Baker, 74, has long championed a woman taking over the role and has been celebrating since Whittaker’s selection. Baker, who has four daughters, previously called the decision to select a woman after 12 men in the role “brave and game-changing casting”.

“They’ve had 50 years of having a role model. So, sorry Peter, you’re talking rubbish there – absolute rubbish,” he said. “You don’t have to be of a gender of someone to be a role model. Can’t you be a role model as people?”

[From The Guardian]

Yeah, Colin Baker makes the best point – there were already little girls who loved Doctor Who and wanted to be Doctor Who when the Doctor was a dude, and why not? Little girls can look up to dudes as role models, just like little boys can look up to women as role models too. There are little boys all around the world who have female role models, from Malala to Serena Williams to Oprah to Elsa from Frozen to Wonder Woman to the girl Doctor. I don’t understand why we’re still talking about this kind of sh-t.

Photos courtesy of WENN.