HAS DOCTOR WHO ALWAYS HAD A WOMAN PROBLEM? 

True! I think Verity wanted a strong modern woman like herself as a companion. She was friends with Jackie and she picked very well. Casting is everything. I listened to an old video of Director John Carpenter talking about Rio Bravo and he said the reason why it’s such a great movie is because of the great casting. Everyone suits their roles perfectly. And something that has went badly wrong in Dr Who in recent years is not just bad writing, although that’s the major problem, but the bad casting. The last two main leads have been miscast. Whittaker was never Dr material and Ncuti seems to have been picked because RTD fancied him. The companions were dull and became Tick boxing casualties with no actual intentions to write them proper characters. Only Bradley Walsh and Millie Gibson have been decent. Although, as good as Millie is I think her character is bland and a light weight Rose. Too generic with no originality about her.

💯 I can’t agree with this enough Barbara is superb.

Jodie was great and the hate for her is unjustified

We felt that though there is a vibe in Nuwho that the Doctor seems to need a woman to be a better time lord or man. That’s a big shift

That was such a weak, break of character exit

Yes being her back to kill Her off while lesser characters drag on in boring character arcs

@@edwardbracken5211 Not quite accurate. 14 didn’t meet 13. This is more like when 13 said that half an hour ago she was a white haired Scotsman.

@Changeling_cosplay yes I get you, I just meant that in the Three Doctors and Five Doctor, they were rude or mischievous about each other's shortcomings

I see your point.i don’t subscribe to the need to be seen on tv to affirm myself. As a gay closeted kid I didn’t need boy George bronson beat erasure etc - they frightened me even more! I want good authentic characters not stereotyped one dimensional characters.

It is how women are used in Dr Who that is the issue now

I agree

That is my very point Raymond. Thanks for making it clearer than me. I have no problem with some of the amazing companions and representation of women in dr who. But the use of female characters seems to be changing or evolving and the doctors character becomes weaker and diminished- correlation or by accident?

@@noblerees1 On the whole Dr Who has got the companions right. The Susan character was let down by incoming writers forgetting she was an Alien and wrote her as a human teenager. Barbara was strong throughout. Vikki suffered the same problems as Susan as did Victoria but from there on in its a success. Zoe and Liz Shaw portrayed as highly intelligent scientists. Jo was resourceful. Sarah Jane strong, independent, intelligent. Leela a Warrior with natural instincts that protected her and the Doctor on occasion. Romana 1&2 were highly confident Timelady. They respected the Drs intelligence and experience but he also respected her intelligence and spoke to her as a equal. It’s the 80s companions that suffer from being underdeveloped. Especially Nyssa but even Tegan main personality trait was moaning and she never seemed enjoy traveling with the Doctor. Peri and Mel were let down by the scripts. Both fine actresses and deserved better storylines than they got. It could be argued that Nu Who females companions have been overwritten and the relationship suffered because it was romanticised. Whereas in the Classic era it was never in doubt that it was platonic. Except with Romana 2 in Paris😊 In the Dr Dances the 9th Doctor is basically fighting with Captain Jack for the right to Rose’s hand. That is expanded in the Tennant era when it becomes will they won’t they? Martha fancies the Dr. She is well written and I like character but even Freema has said that was a mistake and I agree. It weakened her character. Donna was superb. Back to a platonic relationship. Two friends going on an adventure. Why didn’t Moffat realise that was the way to go? Amy was a super confident young woman. Despite her meant to have been under 4 psychiatrists in her youth, Karen Gilllan plays her like she’s got everything under control. Especially men. The Dr throws her because she can’t understand or get the better of him. He’s a challenge. Whereas the other men are a sheer pushovers for her. River Song is arrogant and over confident. She also marries the Dr. Clara started off okay but the character didn’t work with Capaldi’s Doctor. Her getting freaked out when he becomes an older man never made sense after she had already seen his predecessors. Especially, John Hurts War Doctor. Did Moffat forget that? Bizarre. She ends up using the Dr as a Taxi Driver and he ends up like her puppy. Desperately trying to please her at every turn. Bill Potts was a good character. Her relationship with the Dr as Teacher and pupil is very similar to the 7th Dr and Ace. That works!!! I didn’t understand why she needed to be killed off other than the fact Chibnall didn’t want her. Why? A Black companion portrayed by a very good actress. That’s another strange decision. I don’t think think Chibnall could deal with a strong personality like Pearl Mackie. A bad script handed to her and she’s not going to keep her mouth shut. Chibnall gets his companions all wrong. Too many but Yaz has no personality whatsoever and is possibly the stupidest companion to date. Go Chibnall! Diversity is never enough. You have to create an interesting character. Mandip Gill could be a great actress for all I know but she was given nothing to work with and came across as bright as cardboard cutout. Ruby Sunday is a generic soap teenage character. A poor man’s Rose. Millie Gibson is a fine actress but there is nothing unique about her character. She comes across as fairly bright but is just out to have fun. There is nothing of any interest there for me. Badly written companion. So to sum up. The Classic got the companions right more times than not. Nu Who made got it right once with Donna😊

That was a problematic regeneration cycle to watch

@@noblerees1 It wasn’t a regeneration. She wasn’t injured she just wanted another face because she was vain

I wrote pieces on those points! politicsandlawofdoctorwho.blogspot.com/2019/03/desperately-tweaking-susan.html politicsandlawofdoctorwho.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-doctor-imprisoned-by-sexism.html

@@wetsox278 It’s a bit naive to think that trans and gay people didn’t exist back then, they absolutely did and it wasn’t a good thing that they lacked representation in the media. Gay people were being sent to prison and trans people recieved ECT in mental hospitals. Women as an add on? Again, that’s a terrible thing. Women couldn’t even get a credit card without a man’s permission before 1973. We have made progress. We’re not going to wind things back to the 60’s.

Spot on. RTD hates us older fans. He thinks we view ourselves as the Gatekeepers to Dr Who. He wanted to destroy that myth with his new version. To Hell with canon and what us old farts think Dr Who is. This is RTD show now with his new rules. It has failed Massively! You can’t turn a 2500 yr Alien into a horny 30 yrs old human male, which is what he did in Rogue, and expect fans to accept this as the same character from the past 60 years. The truth is, RTD genuinely believed he could replace us older fans with newer ones who believe in the same things he does. Unfortunately, that new audience never existed in any large number. Millions have left and won’t come back. He might have gained some new viewers but when you aim a show at a tiny majority of the population ( 1.6%) then that’s what happens. You get a niche minority audience. Want a Mass audience? Aim it at the masses. That includes the 98% heterosexual population. Which despite all the talk about inclusivity seemed to have been completely forgotten about 😂 When the Dr Who Bad Wolf producers realise that then they might have a chance of making a Hit show.

@@wetsox278 Something being society at the time doesn’t make it right. This is why representation actually matters when it’s done right. Not tokenism, actual well written characters.

@@Changeling_cosplay society is the only true measure of the peoples will, but again yes it would be far more palatable if you weren't trying to jam the poorly acted message down peoples throats. Many times it has been successfully done in the past in a non abrasive way. RTD basically has said that he doesn't care if the real fans go and touch grass, we will be replaced by a new audience. Well good luck to him.

@@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns it bewilders me why RTD thought that an overwhelming majority of straight people would want a tutu wearing nancy boy as a new Doctor. I mean even the majority of the straight women that watch would want a manly Doctor. But RTD has gone off the rails he no longer cares about the real fans that care about the legacy of the show.