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Sylvester McCoy was Nervous About Thirteenth Doctor's Gender Change

Seventh Doctor actor, Sylvester McCoy has revealed that he was initially nervous about the Doctor’s gender change when Jodie Whittaker was announced as the thirteenth incarnation of the Time Lord – but that he was soon won round to the idea.

At the London Comic Con Spring, held earlier this month, he said:

“I thought, ‘Hmm I wonder if that will work’, but then I started to get used to it and then when Jodie arrived I sent a message to her saying, ‘One small step for woman, and one giant step for womankind’. Because that’s what it was. When I watched, I was still slightly apprehensive and I thought, ‘Oh, I hope I like this’. And I did.”

It’s nice to hear McCoy step up and admit that he was uncertain at first: after all, Peter Davison was driven off Twitter after he said he was apprehensive about the notion of the Doctor being played by a woman for the first time. Fortunately, fandom hasn’t turned against Sylvester for this, and neither should it (but you never know these days).

McCoy continued:

“There aren’t any rules and what a brilliant idea for whoever came up with it.”

Jodie Whittaker returns as the Doctor in Series 12, due to air in early 2020.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Sylvester McCoy was Nervous About Thirteenth Doctor's Gender Change

by Philip Bates time to read: 1 min
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