Why Jodie Whittaker is Reportedly Leaving Doctor Who

There might be a few fans out there of Doctor Who that are going to rejoice in seeing Jodie Whittaker taking a final bow as she leaves the show, but the fact is that like several Doctors before her, Jodie is bowing out after three seasons of playing the titular character, and fans are still divided as to her storyline. Admittedly, retconning a story to state that the main character is not a Time Lord but instead the Timeless Child, someone that could predate the known universe, was bound to upset a few people. One might think that being a Time Lord is good enough since after all the Time Lords are seen as beings of great power and responsibility. But turning the Doctor into an ageless, immortal being that can continually regenerate into a different being every so often is kind of a huge switch and almost feels like a writer’s half-developed brainchild being let loose. Too many people tend to want their creations to be as powerful as they can make them, and in doing so some people go way out of bounds and extremely out of control. If you don’t believe that then I have a show called Dragon Ball to present to you, along with many other creations that have been given beings of such great power that they simply can’t be topped save by some strange and vaguely insane means.

But the Doctor has almost always felt fairly balanced in terms of who the being is, what they can do, and the fact that they’re not perfect or invulnerable, or in need of a switch that could paint them as something completely different. Messing with a story in this manner is not really advised since it can do far more damage than good, but without being someone that can make a difference, all the rest of us can do is roll with it or simply not watch. For many fans of the show, not watching isn’t an option, but holding their tongue about the change is just as difficult, if not impossible. So far the decision to reveal the Doctor as a Timeless Child has divided the fans once again. If anyone still remembers, the emergence of a female Doctor did that same thing since people were throwing fits left and right when Whittaker was brought on to take on the role. It could have had something to do with the idea that throughout the long history of the Doctor, people had never really thought that a woman might take the role. Or it could have had something to do with the feminist movement and the idea that women taking over roles that had been made popular by men was starting to get out of control. The latter feeling is one that was felt by more than a few people a couple of years ago and is still felt in part since there are roles that women are being thrust into such as the Bond movies that people are still taking issue with. But the fact is, that if a woman can take on the role and make it work, that there shouldn’t be an issue. The idea of pushing women into roles that have traditionally been taking on by men to satisfy the feelings of those that are calling for such a thing is what people worry about the most, however. It’s never been because women CAN’T take on the roles, but instead the general feeling is WHY they should be given said roles.

The idea of the ‘right person for the right job’ mentality has been shown a great deal of disdain over the years, and while those such as Whittaker have managed to take on their assigned roles and done just fine, there are others that have proven that they either weren’t ready for the roles they were given or had no business being there in the first place. Whittaker has been a credit to her role as the Doctor since she took on the role and managed to play it not to perfection, but to the manner in which she was able to play it best. Of course she wasn’t bound to be the same as the other Doctor’s, since this would have been kind of boring and even predictable. But she took on the part and did her best, and that was all that anyone could rightfully ask of her since this role is such a great responsibility in terms of the fans and the show itself. Hearing that she’s stepping down isn’t too surprising after three seasons, but wondering who’s going to come in next, and if the retcon of the Timeless Child is going to be kept, are questions that will hopefully be answered in the days ahead.