Former Doctor Who Star Wasn’t Keen On Female Doctor At First

For the most part, previous actors who’ve played the Doctor have welcomed the news that the Time Lord is about to become a woman for the first time with open arms. Since the announcement that Jodie Whittaker would be portraying the Thirteenth Doctor, several Doctor Who stars have congratulated the actress – including Peter Capaldi, Colin Baker and David Tennant.

One actor who’s come forward as being more mixed on the idea though is Fifth Doctor Peter Davison and now, Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, has revealed that he wasn’t sold on the idea, either. Since Whittaker’s casting, however, he’s become “excited” about a female Doctor, saying the following in a recent interview:

 “It seemed a bit odd. But once it was announced, I got my head around it and then I got rather excited about it and I sent her [Jodie] a message saying, ‘Well done,’ and I said, ‘One small step for woman, one giant leap for womankind’. Because I think it’s very important.”

The Hobbit star was also asked what advice he would give to Whittaker about taking on the role, and said:

“Don’t read or listen to the negative stuff that will come. It comes to every Doctor. Every new Doctor has to go through a negative cloud because a lot of the fans – not all but some – are quite conservative, they don’t like change, and because she is a woman that’s quite a dramatic change. So just put your head down, learn the lines and try to bump into the monsters.”

It’s brave of McCoy to be open about his initial hesitancy in regards to a female Doctor – considering how Twitter users can jump on comments like this and make a mountain out of a molehill. Still, it’s great to hear that he’s since been won over by the idea and hopefully, that will save him from the fate that Davison met. In case you hadn’t heard, the actor received so much abuse on Twitter for his comments on a female Doctor that he’s decided to leave the social media site completely.

As for Jodie Whittaker, she’ll make her Doctor Who debut in this year’s Christmas special.