Fifth Doctor Peter Davison Thinks ‘Doctor Who’ Should Not Be A Woman
The Master might be Missy now, but “Doctor Who” should remain as a man, according to Fifth Doctor Peter Davison. The 63-year-old English actor, who is in Australia to narrate the “Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular,” explained that his gender preference for the Time Lord has more to do with avoiding stereotype than anything else.
In an interview with ABC News, Davison admitted that he is having a hard time thinking that the iconic TV character may one day regenerate into a woman. There have been talks even before the British series was revived in 2005 that the Doctor could be played by a woman, but for Davison, he isn’t too keen on the idea.
“Personally, and I speak now as a fan who grew up watching it, I have trouble with the idea of a female Doctor, only because I reckon if you’re born on Gallifrey a man, you probably are a male Time Lord,” he said.
He reiterated, though, that it’s just a personal preference and that he has nothing against a female Doctor. He further explained that the Doctor usually is a troubled man with a very strong female companion. “And it seems to me that if you reverse that, if you have an uncertain, troubled or fallible female Doctor with a very strong male companion, you’ve got more of a stereotype than anything else.”
Davison knew that he would get flak for saying his opinion about what the Doctor’s gender should be, and he is fine with that. In fact, he wants a female Doctor, but in a spin-off series, not for the actual Doctor. He even suggested that his daughter Georgia Moffet, who played the Tenth Doctor David Tennant’s daughter Jenny, could become a female Time Lord.
“Let’s bring her back!” Davison quipped. “Let’s have a spin-off with Jenny.”
Jenny, or “generated anomaly,” appeared in the fourth season episode “The Doctor’s Daughter.” She was created using a progenation machine using the Doctor’s DNA against his will. At the end of the episode [SPOILER], Jenny appeared to have been revived from death using the regeneration glow she inherited from her father. Interestingly, Moffet married Tennant after meeting on the set. Hence, she is not only the Doctor’s [Davison] daughter, but also the Doctor’s [Tennant] wife.
Davison’s views differ from the current and 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi, who believes his future successor should be a woman. The Scottish actor told SFX that perhaps gender is “quite fluid” on the Doctor’s home planet of Gallifrey. The Doctor’s nemesis, Master, has regenerated into a female the recent season. She is now called Mistress, or Missy for short, and the Doctor didn’t think it was weird at all.
“He doesn’t seem to register the fact that his old friend is now a woman,” Capaldi noted. “So obviously, he doesn’t think it’s a remarkable thing to happen.”
“Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular” was held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on January 24, and will continue at the Perth Arena on the 31st, Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney on February 7, and at the Vector Arena in Auckland on February 15. Davison presents the musical event.
