Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You decide)

[Amaris]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

I just don't see the benefit of doing it. "Because we can" is not a good reason.

"Because he's a man" isn't a good reason in and of itself, either, not in the case of Doctor Who. Plus, it isn't just "because we can", it's "why not?" and for a show like Doctor Who, that's the kind of question that should guide it's direction.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

We'll have to agree to disagree. As much as I appreciate the show's ability to be quirky and unexpected, I think there needs to be some semblance of order to it...even if that order is "Doctor = man."

Again, I'm sure there are plenty of actresses who could play the role, and I'm sure there are writers that could tell good stories. I just have no interest in seeing them.

Female Time Lord? Yes, go for it!

Female Doctor? No, thanks.

 

[Amaris]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

We'll have to agree to disagree. As much as I appreciate the show's ability to be quirky and unexpected, I think there needs to be some semblance of order to it...even if that order is "Doctor = man."

Again, I'm sure there are plenty of actresses who could play the role, and I'm sure there are writers that could tell good stories. I just have no interest in seeing them.

Female Time Lord? Yes, go for it!

Female Doctor? No, thanks.

Yeah, we'll just have to agree to disagree. Though, come on, admit it, Helen Mirren in a nice suit and wearing chuck taylors would look really hot. Especially if she wore a bowtie.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

I'm more open to the idea of a female Doctor than I would have been a few years ago. But unless the lead actress is absolutely brilliant in the role, I think she'll have a lot of difficulty in overcoming accusations of 'tokenism' and the novelty factor.

I also tend to agree that 'Why not?' and 'Because it hasn't been done before' aren't good enough reasons to cast a female Doctor. If the best actor for the role happens to be female and if they can think of directions to take the show and stories with a female lead that they couldn't have with a male - although this begs the question 'why not just start a different show?' - then I guess they ought to go for it. But just to cast a female Doctor because they feel like it and to annoy fanboys may be fun but it doesn't make much sense long-term.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

We'll have to agree to disagree. As much as I appreciate the show's ability to be quirky and unexpected, I think there needs to be some semblance of order to it...even if that order is "Doctor = man."

Again, I'm sure there are plenty of actresses who could play the role, and I'm sure there are writers that could tell good stories. I just have no interest in seeing them.

Female Time Lord? Yes, go for it!

Female Doctor? No, thanks.

Yeah, we'll just have to agree to disagree. Though, come on, admit it, Helen Mirren in a nice suit and wearing chuck taylors would look really hot. Especially if she wore a bowtie.

And if they wanted to do a single episode where the Doctor somehow turns into a female, I'd love to watch it, as long as he is returned to normal by the end. I think it could be great for a one-off story; I'm just not interested in seeing anything more than that.

 

[Starkers]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

I'm more open to the idea of a female Doctor than I would have been a few years ago. But unless the lead actress is absolutely brilliant in the role, I think she'll have a lot of difficulty in overcoming accusations of 'tokenism' and the novelty factor.

I also tend to agree that 'Why not?' and 'Because it hasn't been done before' aren't good enough reasons to cast a female Doctor. If the best actor for the role happens to be female and if they can think of directions to take the show and stories with a female lead that they couldn't have with a male - although this begs the question 'why not just start a different show?' - then I guess they ought to go for it. But just to cast a female Doctor because they feel like it and to annoy fanboys may be fun but it doesn't make much sense long-term.

Yeah I pretty much agree, the only reason to cast a woman is because she's the best choice, doing it to be new or trendy or any other reason is a recepie for disaster. Smith wasn't hired cos he was young, he was hired cos he was right!

Personally I think Mirren would make a lousy Doctor, however having seen her wonderfully quirky little girl take on Miss Haversham I'd love to see Gillian Anderson do it.

My first female choice would still be Nicola Walker however...

 

[23skidoo]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

As I often say, if you're willing to accept a female Doctor then you have to accept the possibility that a future incarnation of Romana, or Susan or River Song (if she hadn't given them up) could have ended up looking like Ron Jeremy.

If you're willing to accept that, then go for it.

My opinion is the regeneration of Romana in Destiny of the Daleks, and River's regeneration in Let's Kill Hitler confirms that, to a degree, regenerations can be controlled. So the fact the Corsair changed sexes is more likely an indication that the Corsair was of the LBGT persuasion than an indication that the 12th Doctor is going to suddenly come out looking like Katie McGrath (which would be really nice for about 5 minutes until you realized this character used to be Colin Baker! ).

Helen Mirren would be an interesting choice for a Big Finish "Doctor Who Unbound" female Doctor, but she's simply too old to play the part on screen today. That's nothing to do with personal ability as we've seen her do a number of action films of late and the number of 60-something action film stars is on the rise. 40-45 is pretty much seen as the upper age range for the Doctor and has been since Tom Baker arrived in 1974, and moreso in the new series given the "lots of running" mandate, plus the fact the BBC recognizes the sex appeal aspect of the character and how it boosts ratings. So it's doubtful you'd ever see a Ron Jeremy cast as a regular male Doctor either.

Alex

 

[Amaris]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

We'll have to agree to disagree. As much as I appreciate the show's ability to be quirky and unexpected, I think there needs to be some semblance of order to it...even if that order is "Doctor = man."

Again, I'm sure there are plenty of actresses who could play the role, and I'm sure there are writers that could tell good stories. I just have no interest in seeing them.

Female Time Lord? Yes, go for it!

Female Doctor? No, thanks.

Yeah, we'll just have to agree to disagree. Though, come on, admit it, Helen Mirren in a nice suit and wearing chuck taylors would look really hot. Especially if she wore a bowtie.

And if they wanted to do a single episode where the Doctor somehow turns into a female, I'd love to watch it, as long as he is returned to normal by the end. I think it could be great for a one-off story; I'm just not interested in seeing anything more than that.

That would be okay, but I'd like to see at least one season where the Doctor is female. Add a little variety and cheeky fun from a different perspective.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

As I often say, if you're willing to accept a female Doctor then you have to accept the possibility that a future incarnation of Romana, or Susan or River Song (if she hadn't given them up) could have ended up looking like Ron Jeremy...


So it's doubtful you'd ever see a Ron Jeremy cast as a regular male Doctor either.

Alex

Now I really want to start a 'Ron Jeremy As the 12th Doctor' campaign!

 

[CaptainMatt]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

It was Terrance Dicks himself who went on record in the 1980s, saying the Doctor had enough to worry about without adding a sex change to the mix. I concur with his highly valued judgement.

 

[Anji]

Re: Helen Mirren wants to portary The Doctor (Tongue-in-cheek? You dec

Going on the opinions of the Doctor's I've met: Troughton, Pertwee, T. Baker, Davison, C. Baker, McCoy...I'm gonna have to say "no" to the female Doctor.

I'm a woman and I'm torn on this issue but I have to respect the actors who have portrayed the character.