Editor’s Note: Why I won’t stop talking about the thirteenth Doctor

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – JULY 25: Actress Jodie Whittaker speaks onstage at the ‘Broadchurch’ panel discussion during the BBC America portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour – Day 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 25, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

People want us to stop talking about the thirteenth doctor…I refuse to.

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Every few years, we go through the process of a new regeneration. And for some of us, it happens just as we’re getting used to the current Doctor. It happens every time with the same regeneration. People say that this is a horrible choice for the Doctor, they distrust the choice, they make fun of the choice…and worse, sometimes they bow out of the show. Despite a large majority actually supporting the change, the loud backlash has drowned out any celebration of the thirteenth doctor.

Now, I get it. This is a big change, it always has been a big change. What makes Doctor Who wonderful and able to be around for 50 years is also its biggest flaw. We fall in love with a character, but really an actor, who we know is going to leave. Then we have to trust that this new person, chosen completely out of our hands will be able to keep up what we love about this character.

That’s the difficult part. We all love the Doctor. We all love our madman in a box. But each actor plays it slightly differently. So while we all claim to love the character, it’s really the portrayal we’ve come to love.

When Jodie Whittaker was announced on Sunday, I was ecstatic for many reasons. None of them, surprisingly was that a woman would be at the helm. To me, an actor is an actor. I was excited because I’m a fan of Jodie Whittaker. The more I learn about her previous acting roles, the more I think she’ll be perfect.

Sin I run a site for Doctor Who, I had been waiting for this. How often do you come into a site with such great news blooming? I posted two things: The announcement, and Jodie Whittaker’s past. And I got a comment saying “okay, we get it. let’s move on.”

How about we don’t move on?

Move on? This is one of the biggest things to happen in Doctor Who history — not only the fact that it’s a woman but it’s a new regeneration. And if this were Kris Marshall, who had been the odds on favorite, or any other man who had been talked about for the role, would people be so quick to forget about it? Probably not.

I’m going to talk about the regeneration. I’m going to talk about it seriously, and ways that this does, inevitably, put the show in danger, and how it’s also a great step for women and how it’s more than a PC move.

There’s a lot more to a decision like this than wanting to be politically correct. Maybe that’s part of it, if no female actress had stuck out as able for the role, then it wouldn’t have been cast. But guess what? I have my worries too, and I’ve written about my worries. And I’ll continue to stand by those worries while supporting an actress taking on an iconic role.

Why can’t we do both? Why is it an either/or?