Update: 24th June 2013

Since the publication of this article on the 28th May 2013 it has been brought to our attention that much of the material covered here was first published by Richard Cooper on his blog, on the 18th May 2013.

We can only apologise to Richard for the mistake that led to this article being published in the first place. We are also highly grateful to him for allowing this article to continue to be published, and recommend you read his excellent original piece on the same issue.

Original Article: 28th May 2013

For fifty years, Doctor Who has been as much a part of British culture as double-decker buses, Harry Potter, and tea.  Episodes regularly attract up to eight million viewers, and the programme has permeated the public consciousness unlike any other children’s TV show.  I’ve been watching Doctor Who since I was ten years old, and have always admired its portrayal of a protagonist (the Doctor) who stands up for the oppressed and challenges prejudice.  And yet in recent years, I’ve become uncomfortable with Doctor Who’s representation of female characters.  They no longer seem like complex, interesting human beings, but merely mysteries for the Doctor to solve.

Of course, the basic premise of the show is one in which it’s easy for gender inequality to occur. Doctor Who is about an extremely brilliant and knowledgeable man who saves worlds, and has a (usually female) assistant who he takes away from her home and family and frequently puts in situations where she is out of her depth, upset or in danger. But that doesn’t excuse it, and the writers of Doctor Who should take extra care to avoid that inequality. Russell T. Davies, executive producer from 2005-2010, went some way towards solving the problem by creating female companions who grew and matured as people throughout their travels with the Doctor; Martha Jones, for example, left the Doctor to pursue a medical career. And yet recently, the female characters’ lives seem to completely revolve around the Doctor.

Take, for example, Clara Oswald, the Doctor’s current companion, who is witty, flirty, assertive, and keeps appearing in different incarnations throughout the Doctor’s life. The current series has been mainly concerned with solving the mystery of her identity. The most recent seres finale ‘The Name of the Doctor’ revealed that Clara was “born to save the Doctor”, and that her various incarnations are a result of her sacrificing herself to save his life – she jumps into the Doctor’s timestream, and echoes of her are scattered throughout his history. Clara’s life is completely determined by her relationship with the male hero: we don’t see her having any other interests or goals, and she exists as a ‘thing’ in the abstract, a mystery the Doctor must solve. “What are you?”, he demands repeatedly, and the choice of words here is important; in storytelling terms, who Clara is matters far less than what she is. She’s “a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a skirt that’s just a little too tight”. Clara is a fascinating enigma, but she isn’t a human being.

This isn’t the first time a female character’s life has revolved around the Doctor. River Song, a character whose identity was the mystery driving much of Series 6, is a time-travelling archaeologist who at first glance seems like a strong, independent adventurer. However, as we learn more and more about her past, we discover that this isn’t the case at all – she is completely defined by her relationship with the Doctor, and everything she does, she does because of him, rather than because of her own motivations and interests.

Steven Moffat, Doctor Who’s current showrunner, has responded to criticisms of his female characters by saying, “River Song? Amy Pond? Hardly weak women. It’s the exact opposite. You could accuse me of having a fetish for powerful, sexy women who like cheating people. That would be fair.” But a fetish for powerful women is no substitute for an interest in human beings. River is a strong female character, there’s no doubt about that; but she’s a strong female character, rather than a strong character who happens to be female. Her characterisation seems to be based purely on what Moffat thinks is sexy and cool. Real strong female characters aren’t perfect, powerful women who wield guns and wear catsuits – they’re human beings with flaws and vulnerabilities like any male character, and by portraying River as nothing more than a sexy, assertive puzzle for the Doctor to solve, the writers are doing her a disservice.

And then there’s the Doctor himself – once a defender of humankind, and a character who admired humans, felt their pain and experienced love, desire and empathy, he now forcibly kisses characters without their consent, and makes jokes about how women are scary. In last year’s ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’, Amy was confused about River’s behaviour, and asks, “I don’t get it, one minute she wants to marry you, the next she wants to kill you!” The Doctor replies: “She’s been brainwashed, it probably makes sense to her. Plus, she’s a woman.” Perhaps even more worryingly, this series’ ‘The Crimson Terror’ saw the Doctor flirting with Jenny, a Victorian maidservant who is married to Madame Vastra, and then grabbing her and forcing her into a kiss. When slapped by her afterwards, he made a joke about it, didn’t apologise, and the exchange was all played for laughs, and yet this non-consensual kiss was an attack of Jenny’s sexual autonomy. The Doctor might be an eccentric, impulsive character, but in the past he would have respected Jenny’s sexuality and wouldn’t have assaulted her in this way - or if he had, the exchange probably wouldn’t have been treated as comedy.

It’s often said that if someone finds a film or TV programme problematic, then they should just stop watching. But the reason I don’t want to give up on Doctor Who is that I really used to love the programme, and still think it has so much potential for greatness, if only the writers stopped treating women like wonderful, inscrutable, mysterious creatures, and started portraying them as people. Moffat once responded to criticism on Twitter by arguing, “I am sexist. Women are cleverer, nicer, kinder and better at stuff. Don't let on or they'll keep us in fields. FIELDS!!!” This kind of gender stereotyping is just as damaging as if he had suggested that women are inferior to men. Strong characters, whether male or female, have flaws, interests, and idiosyncrasies, but Clara, Amy and River are presented as perfect examples of femininity without really giving any evidence of their humanity.

Towards the end of Saturday’s ‘The Name of the Doctor’, Clara cries, “I don’t even know who I am!” To this the Doctor replies, “You’re my impossible girl”, and this sums up perfectly the problem with the series, because that’s all Clara is to the show – not an independent human being with her own dreams and desires, but nothing more than the Doctor’s impossible girl.