21/07/2017
There has been a broadly welcoming response from the LGBT communities to the news that the new incarnation of Doctor Who will be Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the role – well, the first in television, as the Who universe has already experimented with having a female Doctor in other media. Jodie will be the thirteenth incarnation of Doctor Who, taking over from Peter Capaldi at the Christmas Special later this year. Predictably, the Daily Mail readers comments were hostile, but thousands more took to social media to welcome the news. The announcement also made the front pages of many newspapers and featured around the English speaking world on television reports. Whittaker will have her work cut out, as Doctor Who has been experiencing falling viewer figures for some time, and many consider that it needs a fresh impetus to avoid the BBC from cancelling it. On Tuesday, the loveable and gay friendly Colin Baker, who played the Sixth incarnation of the Doctor, wrote for the Guardian giving his Time Lord blessing to the new Who.