Doctor Who: Time Ladies that paved the way for a Thirteenth Doctor
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 06: Alex Kingston speaks at the Tales from the TARDIS panel at Jacob Javits Center on October 6, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Whether or not you like the idea of a thirteenth Doctor, it’s impossible to say they haven’t paved the way for a woman. We’re not going to get to that right now, though, we’re going to talk about the women from the past who made their mark on Doctor Who history.
It started slowly in the Classic Who episodes, with Romana to clever companions such as Sarah Jane Smith, Tegan, Nyssa, and those are just my favorites. Going into the new era, the Doctor counted on the women in his life to help get along. We never saw the Doctor alone, and it wasn’t because he wanted a relationship, it’s because humans help him understand the world. He always said he couldn’t be alone. He wasn’t good alone.
The best moment in New Who history, showing the true relationship, is when the Doctor says: “I just want a mate.”
But between the Classic Era and the New Era there have been three ladies that have really stuck out. Ironically, they’ve all been Time Ladies. Whether they were thought to pave the way or not, they’ve all made an improvement. Not only did women help the Doctor along the way, sometimes they were there to beat him out and be a little better.
BBC
Romanadvoratrelundar (or Fred)
Romana was introduced in Four’s era, as a female Time Lord, when she was assigned to the Doctor to help find the Key of Time. She was young, inexperienced (Only 125, after all). While the two didn’t get on so well, they learned to respect each other.
What made Romana so novel is how she challenged the Doctor, something we hadn’t seen in the Classic era. She was smarter than the Doctor, and that showed throughout her episodes.
There are many reasons for Romana II. Some are complicated, and some are just saying she did it because she felt she could. Four and Romana II became closer, easily be seen in one of the best episodes to show their relationship, City of Death.
Romana went on to leave the Doctor to free slaves all by herself, without help from any man. In expanded media, specifically audios, she went back home and became President of Gallifrey. Though it’s tricky to find exact accounts of this, the spin off audios Gallifrey talk about the difficulties she had as President. Trying to get the world to understand they might not be as great and powerful as they thought.
What does this show?
You’ve caught me, I haven’t watched much of Romana’s time on Doctor Who, unfortunately. But our writer James has, and he told me all the wonderful things that Romana did. What I always see when I write an article about women of Doctor Who, is the fact that I never mention Romana.
Her sheer population indicates that Female Time Ladies can work. Any other Time Lady we talk about in this article was no doubt made in the image of Romana, because she had such an impact on the Fourth Doctor.
BBC
River Song
River Song is different than any other character whatsoever. The fact is, we know she’s a Time Lord, but she isn’t from Gallifrey. Her parents are from Leadworth and the TARDIS changed her DNA.
This Time Lady who isn’t from Gallifrey had to learn all on her own. Even through that, she proved to have the same qualities as Time Ladies before her. She ended up being just as smart as the Doctor, just as quick, learned how to fly the TARDIS without help. She was just as much a Time Lady as anyone who lived on Gallifrey.
Throughout her life, she learned how to grow as a Time Lord. As we saw in Husbands of River Song, she might not always have done it the right way, given the fact that she stole from time to time. But she also went and became a Professor, and then a Doctor in her own right. She proved to have the smarts that the women of Gallifrey have. Maybe she wasn’t President of Gallifrey, but she outsmarted the people who brainwashed her to save her husband.
She also had a deep connection with the Doctor, and married him. Whether it was River Song or Melody Pond, the first time they met or the last, she always loved him. Her madman in a box. It would never stop her from telling him when he was wrong, or stupid, but she loved him. She was a strong woman, who didn’t need a man in her life, but chose to have one.
BBC
Missy
This is a whole new level of change. The two women we’ve talked about were always women. Obviously, we know that Missy is a regenerated form of the Master.
This was an attempt to see how people would take a female regeneration. And while people may have been weary at first, and some may have preferred a Classic Master or John Simm’s Master, we can’t say Missy didn’t win over our hearts.
A completely different character
The thing about Missy is that she’s completely different than any other woman who has been on the show. She’s a regeneration, so she’s had a past — a past played by men. But we forgot that quickly (at least I did). The regeneration worked so well, and gave Missy her own footing. She became a new character in our mind — more than just a regeneration.
Maybe it’s because she was in so much of season eight, nine and ten, while the other Masters occured less often, she was able to become her own. At the very least, she showed us that she can still be at the forefront of what was a male character, and play it as a woman. People won’t forget that the character was male. But they’ll see this brand new version, and in time, appreciate her.
Missy was everything that, I believe, the writers wanted to try for a male-turned-female timelord. And it succeeded, and she became a favorite character.
What does all this mean?
So, we have the President of Gallifrey, one who learned to be a timelord and the face of a major character. All of these women together were able to pave way to this new Doctor. We know that female Time Lords are smart, if not smarter. We know they’re resiliant. And we know, if given the right face, they can challenge their predecessors.
The proof is there. Let’s give it a chance.