Sunday night premiered series 11 (season 11 for those of us speaking US television terms) of Doctor Who. For those who do not know Doctor Whois a long running British SF/Fantasy series about the time and space traveling alien known only as ‘The Doctor’ and his various companions as they get themselves into adventures throughout the Universe. The show ran from 1963 through 1989 and then was restarted but critically not rebooted in 2005. A central conceit of the program is that The Doctor’s race upon death can regenerate allowing the series to pass the torch from actor to actor as The Doctor. Typically the character’s incarnations are referred to by their place in their sequence, the original Doctor being 1 and the most current Doctor is 13. (Though 14 actors have played the Doctor one is referred to as ‘The War Doctor.’ Played by the late John Hurt and was used only in specials and never helmed a series of his own.)

13 represents the boldest regeneration for the character as actor Jodie Whittaker take the role becoming the first woman to play the long running hero.

So how did it go?

In my opinion it went brilliantly. Now in terms of science in science fiction I have never held Doctor Whoto a very high standard. The program has always been more fantasy than science fiction but it often uses that fantasy to tell thrilling and compelling stories; which is what really matters. Whittaker stepped into the role of The Doctor and as with her predecessors made it her own while maintaining a core that was recognizable as the character we have seen in some many so varied incarnations. I was not terrible familiar with Whittaker before Doctor Who having seen her only in the murder mystery series Broadchurchbut in both shows she is terrific.

In the first episode of series 11 ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth.”The Doctor finds herself without her TARDIS, her Sonic Screwdriver, or her memories. (This is not the first time regeneration has delayed The Doctor’s recall of her life but it is not a common occurrence either.) A pair of aliens is moving through the town of Sheffield, people are dying, and The Doctor quickly takes the lead in unraveling the mystery while gathering up a collection of friends who will be her companions for the new series.

From the moment that Jodie Whittaker was announced as the new Doctor there has been a backlash from predictable quarters of the Internet. The usual complaints that the character is male and should be only played by male actors. In the case of The Doctor this is a particularly weak argument. The Doctor, beyond being an alien that sheds bodies and forms, also adopts a new personality with each regeneration. Sometimes the character is hard, cold and distant, sometimes the character haunted and tragic, and sometimes the character is childish and goofy. With such a diverse set of traits that is nothing that locks the character in a particular gender. The Doctor’s core attribute is the character’s morality and transcends sex, gender, and race.

Under the program’s new leadership, Chris Chibnall who also worked with Whittaker on Broadchurchthe series11 launched with a great start and I have high hopes for The Doctor’s future.