BBC Exec Wants a Woman to Play Lead in Doctor Who

BBC Television chief Danny Cohen spoke about having a woman play The Doctor at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

The Doctor could be a woman in later iterations of Doctor Who, according to Danny Cohen, BBC’s Director of Television. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival today, Cohen was asked if he could envisage seeing the first female Time Lord, to which he replied, “I hope so.” Cohen didn’t say how soon the series might feature a female lead. Cohen also praised the BBC for its production budgets, saying, ” “For the price of two [seasons] of House of Cards, we made 14 drama series for BBC One and BBC Two. What we do with our money is extraordinary.” Doctor Who returns August 23rd with Peter Capaldi as the enigmatic Time Lord. The Season 8 trailer promises dinosaurs in London, the infamous Daleks, and the return of Madame Vastra.

Fans hoped that the twelfth incarnation of The Doctor would be a woman, suggesting Sherlock‘s Lara Pulver, Harry Potter‘s Emma Watson, and Snowpiercer‘s Tilda Swinton as possible actors. Before Capaldi’s casting was announced, Dame Helen Mirren told the Daily Star, “I would like to play the new female Doctor Who. I don’t want to just be his sidekick.” When the series was struggling in the 1980s, Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman pitched the idea that The Doctor should regenerate into a woman to the BBC.

While you’re waiting for the season premiere, come gush with us over our favorite things about the current run of Doctor Who. Or talk time travel paradoxes on The Escapist’s Science and Tech Podcast.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter