LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 14: Phoebe Waller-Bridge poses with the award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme in the Winner’s room at the Virgin TV BAFTA Television Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on May 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Is Phoebe Waller-Bridge the next Doctor? She certainly has our eye…
It’s official: Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the next Doctor. Oh wait, hang on. Let’s save that for Sunday. By the way, isn’t she a good fibber? Not.
On 28th March 2017, Ladbrokes placed a relatively unknown actor as their new favourite to play the role of the Doctor. The odds on Phoebe Waller-Bridge fell dramatically as a raft of people placed bets on her becoming the new star of Doctor Who… the first female Doctor. And we’re ready for it!
The debate about whether the Doctor could or should become a woman has divided the fandom ever since Tom Baker first posed the idea in 1980. Although I’ve always felt that when such an opportunity emerged, an eccentric middle-aged woman like Joanna Lumley or Tilda Swinton would be ideal for the part, departing Doctor Peter Capaldi is, at 59, the oldest official actor to play the role. The BBC has now wisely realised that in the 21st Century, young Doctors are the norm – particularly following the dramatic fall in ratings throughout the disappointing Capaldi era. At 32 (as of today), Phoebe Waller-Bridge would satisfy this requirement perfectly.
For the past eight years, Waller-Bridge has been on the fringes of UK drama, playing minor roles in films such as The Iron Lady and programmes such as BBC 3’s Bad Education (my first proper introduction to her, as the indie school drugs counsellor India). She even wrote two episodes of the hilarious sitcom Drifters, centred around three twenty-something women sharing a flat in Leeds. Note that a background in comedy similarly served former Doctors Patrick Troughton; Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, David Tennant and Peter Capaldi well in the role. Then in 2015, Waller-Bridge worked alongside incoming Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall on crime drama Broadchurch, building an instant rapport with the acclaimed writer through her moving portrayal of the troubled Abby in the second season.
However, it was not until the groundbreaking success of her own comedy series Fleabag last year that Waller-Bridge first shot to public attention – even propelling her into a CGI-role in the upcoming Han Solo Star Wars Anthology Movie. Her popular, dark wit earned Waller-Bridge a BAFTA earlier this year. Often described as a more adult version of Miranda, Waller-Bridge stunned audiences as the awkward Fleabag, a ‘painfully middle-class’, sex-crazed young woman living the grim realities of urban British life, but with a self-deprecating humour and soul that carries you through each and every ordeal she faces.
That level of optimism in the face of extreme adversity is exactly what the Doctor should be about. Some of the most ghastly creatures in the universe could be assembled against her. However, with one flash of a knowing smile to the audience, children will know that they are safe with this mysterious heroine.
Fleabag is our friend. She might disgust us, shock us and weep with us. But she makes us laugh, she’s there for us in our darkest moments, she makes us live. Remind you of anyone? Your best friend perhaps… The Doctor is humanity’s best friend, our champion. It’s time to put pronouns aside and make Phoebe Waller-Bridge the new Time Lord. Steven Moffat has prepared us for this moment throughout his time as Head Writer, with Missy being the first major step towards a woman Doctor.
Even I have tried my hand at writing for a female Doctor in fan fiction. Young children deserve a role model like the Doctor, but we all deserve so much more than Kris Marshall. This is 2017, not 2016. The programme has offered increasingly progressive roles for women in the past decade. The decision will receive backlash, which I predict will ironically be from the more vocal female side of the fandom. But now, it’s time for Doctor Who to take a bold new step. The show needs a fundamental shake up and Phoebe Waller-Bridge would bring that in abundance.