Christopher Eccleston continues to show why he is the best Doctor in a recent interview with Doctor Who Magazine, where he speaks about wanting more female diversity behind the scenes in Doctor Who.
Speaking with Doctor Who Magazine, according to CBR, the Ninth Doctor actor talked about the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor, a decision that he always backed. He says that he thinks the show should go further with both its “on-screen subject matter and its behind-the-scenes staff.” With incorporating feminist historical figures, he named Emily Davison and Emmeline Pankhurst as two women who would be compelling to put on the show.
“I would very much like the Doctor to meet Emily Davison, who threw herself in front of the Epsom Derby winner [fatally, in 1913] and was one of the forerunners of the feminist movement and a martyr for it,” he explained. “I think that’d be extraordinary for him to mix with her and Emmeline Pankhurst, and explore that. He is very drawn to the feminine.”
Davison was an English suffragette in the early twentieth century who was killed when she was struck by King George V’s horse Anmer at the 1913 Derby when she walked onto the track. Emmeline Pankhurst was also a very important suffragette, whose tactics were also crucial in organizing the movement, although she has been criticized for her militant tactics.
Both would be interesting figures to address in British history, and getting female writers to tackle that would be a big step forward.
“Russell T. Davies writes the Doctor as one Doctor; Steven Moffat writes him as another; Rob Shearman writes him, he’s another,” Eccleston said. “Bit of a boys’ club, though. We need to address that… we need female writers. It needs to be addressed, particularly as the Doctor has such a pronounced, for want of a better phrase, feminine side, and such an enthusiastic engagement with the female.”
It was noted that five out of the nine credited writers in this current run of Doctor Who so far are men, but the majority of the episodes have been written by showrunner Chris Chibnall.
Eccleston also wants to hang out with a Cyberwoman: “The Doctor with a Cyberwoman… that dynamic, feminine element of himself, which he uses so well, his flirtatious nature, his admiration for Gaia and the female would be great with a Cyberwoman. A malign Cyberwoman.”
It is important to note that female showrunners can also contribute to toxic environments and can uphold the patriarchy, etc., but it doesn’t mean that upholding the boys club is a good thing, either. We celebrate the fact that there is a female face fronting Doctor Who, but we still need a woman showrunner someday—one who maybe doesn’t even have to write for just a female Doctor? Writers of color who can write for the series and prove that they too can also get too caught up in their own ego and run excellent characters into the ground just like everyone else.
Sorry, that was my River Song bitterness.
With the recent discussions of Noel Clarke’s behavior and John Barrowman on the sets of Doctor Who and Torchwood, I think it represents that it is important that something does change to make sure a show that celebrates the human race does that from behind the scenes as well.
(via CBR, image: BBC)
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