Why You Should Just Keep Calm & Enjoy 'Doctor Who''s New Female Doctor

The 13th incarnation of iconic BBC character The Doctor was announced after the Wimbledon Men’s final last night. The new actor, Jodie Whittaker, is a fine choice.

Whittaker is best known as Beth Latimer in the compelling whodunit Broadchurch. Sharing a screen with Doctor Who's tenth Doctor, David Tennant, and the wonderful Olivia Coleman, Whittaker’s deceptively calm approach was a highlight. Her embodiment of the ‘grieving mother’ role was brilliant and deep – and far beyond what first met the eye.

What’s so great about our first look at Whittaker’s Doctor is the lack of sensationalism. The emphasis is still the big coat, the key, and the other great dame of the show, the glorious TARDIS. Did we all lose our minds when she was revealed as a woman, or did we just get on with it?

The Doctor’s defining characteristics have always been debated, and arguably up for grabs. Over the show’s five decades, arguments over age, acting credentials and accent have all been debated. The times, and Time Lords, have changed — and we’ve all just got on with it. Remember when the series returned with Doctor #9, Christopher Eccleston? When his northern English accent was challenged during the actor’s first episode, he replied simply, “Well, lots of planets have a North!”.

Dealing with change is an essential part of loving, and sometimes getting passionately frustrated, with this show. As this well-circulated (Ed: and newly updated) fan meme reminds us, all the feels that come with a new lead are feels that we’ve had before.

The backlash against casting a woman in the BBC show’s lead role is perhaps understandable, but only to a point. There is no question that the show has needed to evolve in order to stay relevant, as does any cultural institution that has endured over time.

Television enthusiasts have asked if this change has gone too far — asking if it’s now "jumped the shark", a well-trodden reference to the infamous episode of the American sitcom Happy Days, where Henry Winkler’s character Fonzie took to a jet ski (still in his iconic leathers) and literally jumped over a shark. Ridiculous? Perhaps. Did it make waves (pardon the pun)? Absolutely. And, as Winkler explained years later, whether fans loved it or hated it, it certainly didn’t mean the end of civilisation as we know it.

The biggest challenge that Whittaker will face now is working out how to maintain her demeanour while being asked, repeatedly, how she feels about being a woman. And an actor. And a woman acting in a role that is different to her everyday life experience. And here, just like every other actor who has taken on the role of The Doctor, I imagine she’ll be patient and smile — even turn the charm up to 11. Or 13, in this case.