‘Doctor Who’ Nearly Got Its First Female Doctor 31 Years Before Jodie Whittaker

Jodie Whittaker made history in 2017 when she became the first woman to play the Doctor in the long-running British TV show Doctor Who. However, many people don’t know that she almost wasn’t the first female Doctor.

In fact, several women were considered for the role more than 30 years before Whittaker took the part.

The show first introduced the Doctor as a male character and kept it that way for decades. It wasn’t until Whittaker’s casting that fans saw the Time Lord as a woman on screen for the very first time. Even though recent storylines, like the reveal of the Timeless Child, hinted that the Doctor might have been female before, Whittaker’s role was the first real on-screen example. But before 2017, the idea of a female Doctor had already come up several times.

Back in the mid-1980s, after Colin Baker’s troubled run as the Sixth Doctor, the show was struggling. Michael Grade, who was the BBC Controller at the time, reached out to Doctor Who co-creator Sydney Newman for advice on how to bring new life into the series. Newman suggested something bold: bring back Patrick Troughton, the actor who played the Second Doctor, for one more season, and then replace him with a female Doctor. Newman even named some actresses for the role, including Joanna Lumley, Dawn French, and Frances de la Tour.

These were well-known women who could have brought a fresh, fun energy to the show. However, Jonathan Powell, the BBC’s Head of Drama back then, didn’t like the idea and rejected the suggestion.

Instead, when it was time to cast the Seventh Doctor, the BBC chose from male actors only. The final three contenders were Ken Campbell, Chris Jury, and Sylvester McCoy, with McCoy winning the role. While Joanna Lumley, Dawn French, and Frances de la Tour would have added humor and charm, the producers decided to go a different direction. McCoy’s version of the Doctor started off playful but later became darker and more serious, which some fans believe contributed to the show’s cancellation in 1989.

After Doctor Who was canceled in 1989, there was an attempt to bring it back with a TV movie in 1996. Later, when Russell T. Davies rebooted the series in 2005, the show returned with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor. Interestingly, Eccleston wasn’t the only actor considered. Big names like Hugh Grant and Martin Clunes were in the running. What many fans don’t know is that Jane Tranter, a producer on the show, actually wanted to cast a woman.

She even suggested Dame Judi Dench for the part, which would have been a major change and brought huge star power to the series. Sadly, that idea didn’t work out.

Looking back, it’s clear the show came close to having a female Doctor decades before Jodie Whittaker. According to sources like the BBC archives and interviews with those involved, the idea of a female Doctor was on the table, but just didn’t make it to the screen. Whittaker’s casting finally broke the long-standing tradition, proving that sometimes it just takes time for bold ideas to catch on.

Doctor Who fans have since seen the character expand in many exciting ways, and Whittaker’s groundbreaking role helped open doors for even more diverse storytelling. As the show continues, who knows what surprises are next for the Doctor, maybe more female Doctors, or other unexpected twists.

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