Why Having A Female Doctor on "Doctor Who" Makes Sense

Can we just take a minute and continue praising Michelle Gomez for her astounding work on "Doctor Who" as of late?

When she was first introduced, her puckish and maniacal behavior was incredible to watch and at the time, many of us didn't know who she was and what her relationship with the Doctor was. It was maddening!

But, with all great reveals, we found out in Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor's episode, "Dark Water", that she was in fact, The Master, one of the Doctor's greatest foes.  She had dubbed her self "The Mistress" and appropriately, "Missy" for short. Her performance and interpretation of the iconic villain was a delight.

This was HUGE. It was setting a new tone for the show, not because of some agenda, but it had got a really fantastic actress in a role that had been always played by men and she NAILED it.  She made it her own, like so many before her. Diabolical and maniacal, Gomez showed that she had the chops for such a fun and complex character. This of course, had been hinted at a few seasons back. Let's take a look back to Matt Smith's 11th Doctor in "The Doctor's Wife".

He discovers that another Time Lord, the Corsair, might be out there somewhere and says that at one point, he regenerated into a woman. Time Lords could change their DNA so why not change their gender? It was a quick throwaway line, but it would not be forgotten.  

Then, we found ourselves in back in Capaldi's series, we got Missy, and of course, in "Hell Bent" we got something even more telling with the General's regeneration.

Right there, we saw another Time Lord/Time Lady change. This was the third time and another hint that there was always the possibility of this happening to our favorite Time Lord. To me, it made sense that someday, we could very well see a female Doctor.

I honestly can't any reason why we can see this happening. Sure, there might be a dozen different excuses that it would never happen, but I don't think it's impossible.  Imagine if we had someone new take over the TARDIS, someone who was courageous, smart and brave, would it matter if they happened to be a woman? To me, that isn't an issue. The character is still at their core, the Doctor. Traditionally, the Doctor had been played by men for decades, but given the show has started becoming a bit more progressive, I can see something like this happening. Even Steven Moffat, the current show-runner admitted that while he had cast men in the role recently, it's not a bad idea to cast a woman in the future:

“I didn’t not cast a woman… I cast a man. I didn’t [cast a woman] because I wanted to cast Matt Smith and I wanted to cast Peter Capaldi. I didn’t think it was a terrible idea [to cast a woman], I just thought, ‘I want to cast those people’ – that was it.”

Having a female doctor would be not only fantastic, but important. The legacy could still be carried on and it would just make more room for other interesting and powerful stories. Wonder Woman's recent cinematic outing showed us the necessity of a strong female role model. While the timing is right, it makes sense to have this character change, and it wouldn't be done for the sake of doing it. It would be handled in the best way, I think and it would still make a powerful impact. The show could be introduced to new audiences and fans could have a renewed appreciation for the new direction. It would be a much needed breath of fresh air. All these cleverly dropped hints and moments in addition shows that the next logical step would be to bring in a new female Doctor. There are several actresses who could easily take on the role with gusto, creating a new and wonderful dynamic, helping the show evolve into something even more special. Her approach to the character, whoever she will be, would bring something exciting and memorable.

I am more than open to the possibility. Let's hope it happens.