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| Matt Smith as the Doctor (2010-2013) |
Over the last 48 hours, I might have given the impression
that my Edinburgh Fringe show, “Who Are You Supposed To Be” is all about Doctor
Who. It isn’t.
It’s a romantic comedy about fans, fandom, obsession, pop
culture trivia, anxiety and "Doctor
Who". It just happens the hook at the start is an amusing discussion between a
woman and a man at a science fiction convention about whether or not a woman
could or should play the role of The Doctor.
As I’ve learned over the past two days, the discussion of a
woman playing the role of a thousand-year-old alien with two hearts who travels
across time and space reaches back about thirty years to when Tom Baker left
the role. He wished luck to whichever man or woman took over.
I’m not really sure how seriously that comment was taken at
the time. Personally, I’m a pretty late bloomer when it comes to “Doctor Who”,
but the notion of the character changing genders is fascinating to me. Even
though, really, since he changes his entire form every few years – soon for the
12th time in 50 years – it’s not that he’s really changing who he is
any more than he has before. We just perceive it that way. Us humans, we’re so
limited.
I remember the rabid and constant discussions of who should
take the role when David Tennant announced he was leaving. I’m not sure I took
the idea of a woman in the role that seriously, mostly because I didn’t expect
it would ever happen. I’m still pretty much unconvinced it will happen now.
The strongest discussions I remember from the last
regeneration speculation was whether the BBC would try something new and cast a
Person of Colour. Whether it be a black man or someone from East Asia or South
Asia. Fans discussed whether the show would go against type and cast a
non-white man.
Equally, people argued that maybe they should cast older,
since everyone felt like Tennant was too young, even though Peter Davison was
younger when he was in the role – after taking over from Tom Baker. In the end,
Matt Smith became the youngest of them all. So even if the BBC stay
conservative and cast a twelfth white guy, if he’s over 50, it’ll be almost
daring.
Almost.
Some of my play is about gender identity – what we expect
from men and women and the roles they play. Ash, the main female character, is
dressed as the Doctor. She loves dressing up as fictional men and women, but
she’s the Doctor when she meets Gene. Gene doesn’t know what to do. He jokes
with her a little – why isn’t she dressed as a female character from the show?
Doesn’t she know, the Doctor isn’t a woman?
Inadvertently, “Who Are You Supposed To Be?” became a comedy
about meeting people with similar interests who approach that same object of affection
from an opposite point-of-view – and a play about casting the role with a
female actor.
Then Matt Smith announced he was leaving the show. By the
end of the year.
My first thought was, “Yay, lots more interest in the show!
And about casting! And about casting a woman!”
And my second thought was, “What if they casting a woman? What if the BBC destroys the entire premise of my show?”
My Sunday afternoon planning a simple marketing campaign
that rode the coattails of the 50th Anniversary celebrations became something
more like a battle plan. What if? Can we? How about if we? Jesus, do I have to
re-write the whole thing?
In the end, I figured out an angle to take – and I sent out
a bunch of press releases tying the show directly into the speculation about
who would be cast. But the frenzy over a woman in the role took off without anyone
needing to say anything. The mere suggestion lit up the forums. And Twitter.
And Facebook. And...
The play was more relevant than ever. Some fans have vowed
never to watch the show again if a woman plays the role. Some are highly
skeptical. Some would give her a chance, but... Some worried about confusing
the children. Some wanted to defend tradition. Some wanted to defend men.
Some of the posters at Gallifrey Base almost word-for-word
quoted the character of Gene from “Who Are You Supposed To Be?” Because I’ve
heard all the arguments before. And they are all happening again.
I’ve written about writing for women before. I’ve written
about why sometimes it’s better for a character to be a woman. How it can make
a dramatic situation more dramatic. Or more interesting. And I love the idea of
gender-blind casting new scripts and old characters.
But the reason I love the idea of the Doctor as a woman is
because... why not? The character changes all the time anyway. Some of his
changes in personality over the years have been vastly different from one
incarnation to the next. Sometimes changing the gender of the character makes a
story vastly different. Sometimes it’s just a matter of changing the pronouns.
Men and women aren’t that different, I don’t think. And a
thousand-year-old alien with two hearts who travels across time and space is
about as different from you and me as you can get, but we can still empathise
with him. Are we that worried that if he was a she that we might not empathise
with the Doctor in the same way?
And isn’t that reason enough to give the whole notion of a
female Doctor a try? To see what new things the character can explore within
herself and within us, as well?
*
“Who Are You Supposed To Be?” runs from August 14 to August
26, 2013 at C Venues as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. Tickets on sale now.
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