How is it different from old Doctor?

I thought they should have sought out Emma Thompson...

You know, I absolutely love Emm Thompson, and I probably would have given it a shot if it was her just because I think she's so great an actress, but I don't really see her as the Doctor. I was thinking of Glenn Close as the only one that for me feels like she could maybe make this idea work. The only problem would be her being american, but I guess with a female Doctor, having her be american too would hardly matter anymore. Still, like I said, not a realistic choice in terms of her ever taking the job.

Or Tilda Swinton...is it bird, is it plane, is it male, is it female...? ;)
(also, fantastic actress)

I could TOTALLY see her being the Doctor. She pulls off the mean streak well, and has great facial expressions. Liked her opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Dr. Strange, and as Gabriel in Constantine. Wasn't crazy about Narnia.

I agree that Tilda Swinton could play practically anything and make it interesting.

If "He's from the North" worked for Christopher, "she's from the West" works for Emma. :)

I have more of a problem still trying to get used to the reboot compared to the original series than I do even contemplating a gender change of The Doctor.

I've never really come to terms with how Davies and Moffat envisioned Doctor Who-- sure, not all of the new series was bad, but I felt the overhaul of the characters didn't really fit, the writing wasn't as deep as before and there seemed to be more use of deus ex machina-like plot devices. I mean, even the sonic screwdriver seems now more like a magic wand than what it was originally. The show has made it clear they want to go beyond the traditional constructs of the original. I watch it after taking a mental Vicodin: with a glossy interest and not trying to compare with the classic Who.

For the record, I've never seen Jodie Whittaker at work, but I could imagine Judi Dench in the role.

I remember reading Matt Smith modeled his version a little on Patrick Troughton's Doctor, and Capaldi's Doctor started having similarities with Jon Pertwee's Doctor (final season hair, red-lined cape/coat, Venusian aikido... So, maybe Whittaker will wear an overly long scarf...

And if they get tired of a woman in the role, they can always hire Dr. Frank-N-Furter :-P

That reminded me of this :)

Haha! That was really well done!

Guys, I have never watched this show, so can anyone tell me what's the explanation of Doctor Hoot being a different person every other year? I mean what's the story, does that person get picked by some other entity based on some particular qualities?

It's the same character all the time. He's an alien, a Time Lord (that's actually the name of the species, or at least what they like to be called) and when one of them is dying, whether because of injuries or old age he "regenerates" back to health, and in the process basically ends up with a new body.

So the gender is not really important?

That's a debatable point:)

As this thread is the best evidence of, that's up to everyone's personal opinion. The Doctor never changed gender before, for 50 years no other Time Lord (or Lady) did and it was never suggested that they might. He was always male and that was that. It was only recently shoehorned into the show that it's possible in preparation for this new casting. I guess you'd have to watch the show, get to know it and the character and then make up your mind.