According to Christopher Eccleston, Doctor Who was a Little Late to the First Female Doctor Hiring

The female Doctor hiring should've been way sooner than series 11, according to Christopher Eccleston.

We all know 'Doctor Who' got the first female to play the iconic role of the 'Doctor' in the eleventh series of the 21st century revamped Doctor Who. By getting Jodie Whittaker to take on the role, the 12th Doctor became the first female Doctor and according to Christopher Eccleston, the eighth Doctor, this should’ve happened earlier than it really did.

Christopher never really got along with BBC which is why his tenure was limited to one season in the season and was replaced by David Tennant. But now he is speaking his mind and telling who should’ve been the ninth Doctor in the series after he left the show.

Source: Radio Times

According to the actor, Billie Piper was the perfect person to hand over the role to after the end of the first season of the revived show. Billie Piper played the companion of the Doctor, 'Rose Tyler', in the first season and according to Eccleston she was the right person for the job.

The 'Thor: Dark World' actor was at the Rose City Comic-con where he was answering some questions and opened about his time in the show and the reason he declined to come back when all of the other Doctors were brought back in ‘The Day of the Doctor.’

Source: IndieWire

“It's ridiculous we weren't thinking of a female Doctor at that time,” the actor said. “In 2004, in me, they picked yet another white skinny male to be the Doctor. If somebody had said in 2004 it should have been a woman; there'd have been outrage. But only 14 years later it's acceptable.”

He probably doesn’t mean any harm to Jodie Whittaker who got the role, but he is arguing the producers and the creators of the show missed the chance to get the perfect person for the job. To be honest, Rose Tyler is probably our favorite Doctor’s companion and if BBC only decided to give her the role of the Doctor, then no Doctor Who fans at the time would’ve complained.

Source: gbposter

In a way, the complaining and the hate which was thrown the way of Jodie Whittaker would’ve been way less if someone familiar with the people and one of the beloved part of the show was rewarded for her time in the series. The actor was also not getting the whole white men getting the role and asked for everyone to take a step back.

“I think it's time for white, middle-aged males to step aside. And if Billie Piper ever wants to play the Doctor, I'll [be her companion]. Who wouldn't?” who wouldn’t really? “I think that's what they should have done, I was saying backstage. Rose should have moved up to become the Doctor... but it was just too early.”

Source: BBC

Also, not to throw Jodie Whittaker under the bus, we love her version of the Doctor; she is quirky and likable and brought something new to the character as every other past cast did. The problem for Jodie’s Doctor was there was just not enough good material for her to work with, maybe two episodes from the whole series 11 were good, and the should squarely rest on the writer’s shoulder for not giving the actress all the ammunition she needed to kill the role.

The actor also mentioned why only stock footage of the actor was shown in the 50th Anniversary Special of the show where all surviving Doctor made an appearance. The reason was simple for her, because of the disrespect shown to the actor by the press release send out by BBC where they said the actor was tired. “As the series was going out, as the series was being celebrated, I was being vilified in the press in the UK because of the statement that the BBC issued. And it caused quite a depression in me that year," the actor explained.

Source: The Verge

Doctor Who is coming back with Whittaker for a 12th series and the show will be broadcasted with HBO Max after the deal between BBC and WarnerMedia made it possible for the new streaming platform to get the rights to stream all the past episodes of the series.

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