“First Ghostbusters now a female Doctor? Somebody think of the childhoods that will be ruined!” – Random, angry internet fan

Today the internet worked itself up into a frenzy as BBC confirmed that they’ll have a female lead as the 13th Doctor in their long running Doctor Who series:

Actress Jodie Whittaker succeeds Peter Capaldi, who took the role in 2013 and will leave during this year’s Christmas special and in the process will introduce the world to the first ever female Doctor.

Following the news, many took to social media to voice their excitement over the obvious change:



It’s great mate. My nieces can grow up in a world with a good Wonder Woman, a female Jedi, female ghostbusters & a female Dr Who. — simon_tucker (@simontucker1979) July 16, 2017

My youngest daughter loves new Ghostbusters. We watched it together almost daily at one point. Super excited to watch Dr Who with her! — Peter (@BlackRyu82) July 16, 2017

Wow. I don’t even watch #DrWho & this made me choke up a little. I will def be tuning in #DoctorWho #Doctor13 #JodieWhittaker — carla joanne?? (@TheOneHeLuvs) July 16, 2017

However not everyone was elated by the news, with some fans commenting about the show becoming more PC, to being downright misogynist:

Now I know we’re going catch some heat for this, but I want to give some insight from someone who stood on the frontlines with regards to managing not only a website about Ghostbusters but several social media accounts before the release of last year’s female-led reboot.

I’ve read and been told (by visitors) time and time again that they believe the actual sexism geared towards ATC was only around 10%, with the majority of fans instead angry with the film being reboot or they didn’t like one particular actress. I’d love to believe that, I REALLY would, but from my experience, I’d venture to say it actually hovers around 25-35%, with another 5-10% in denial.

The above is the YouTube reaction to the original Ghostbusters trailer released last year. Ouch, right? Roughly 78% of those signed into YouTube clicked thumbs down as of July 16th, 2017. Keep in mind Ghostbusters fans were certainly upset over a variety of topics and not just it being female led. You had nearly 25 years since the last film, the fact that this was a reboot, some feel it shouldn’t have been done due to the passing of Harold Ramis, the Sony hack emails, a new director…

Now, let’s take a look at today’s Doctor Who reveals:

As of this post, we’re sitting at around 33% negative and the ONLY THING the BBC has done is changed the lead character from male to female.

Could our 25-35% sexism assumption on the Ghostbusters trailer actually have some merit?

Anyone wonder what YouTube had to say three years ago when Peter Capaldi took over as the Doctor:

Now that’s a pretty huge difference, especially considering the only thing that changed is the sex of the actor playing the lead.

Switching gears back to the 13th Doctor, Whittaker commented:

“It feels completely overwhelming; as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human, as someone who wants to continually push themselves and challenge themselves, and not be boxed in by what you’re told you can and can’t be,” “I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender. Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change,” Whittaker added. “The fans have lived through so many changes, and this is only a new, different one, not a fearful one.”

Be sure to catch Jodie Whittaker as she debuts as the 13th Doctor during this year’s Christmas special!