13th Doctor: Final Thoughts

30th January 2017 - 27th February 2017: Ben Wishaw

27th February - 12th March 2017: Tilda Swinton

12th March 2017- 28th March 2017: Kris Marshall

28th March 2017 - 16th April 2017: Phoebe Waller Bridge
16th April 2017 - 13th May 2017: Kris Marshall
13th May 2017 - 4th July 2017: Luke Treadway
4th July 2017 - 5th July 2017: Pheobe Waller Bridge
5th July 2017 - 14th July 2017: Kris Marshall
14th July 2017 - 16th July 2017: Jodi Whitaker

The Final Top Five

1. Jodi Whitaker
2. Kris Marshall
3. Phoebe Waller Bridge
4. Tom Rosenthall
5. David Harwood

Poll Result of The List 13th Doctor

Yes to female Doctor and Non-White Doctor: 0
Yes to female Doctor but no to Non-White: 0
No to a female Doctor and Non-White Doctor: 0
No to a female Doctor but yes to a Non-White Doctor: 8 votes

Analysing the timeline of favourites


1. Ben Wishaw - The original favourite was Ben Wishaw, most famous for playing Q in James Bond and being the voice of Paddington bear. As soon as Peter Capaldi made his renouncement that he was leaving the TARDIS on the Jo Whiley show, Ben was straight in there at the top.

2. Tilda Switon - This came out of the blue in a way. I'm not sure how Tilda managed to make the rankings

3. Kris Marshall (1) - Kris Marshall first became the favourite after he left Death in Paradise. In his first time in the number 1 spot that was the only logical reasoning for his position

4. Phoebe Waller Bridge (1) - Like Tilda this one came right out of the blue

5. Kris Marshall (2) - Kris returned to the number one position after the Mirror reported that he had been offered the role of the Doctor and had already filmed his first scene on-board the TARDIS ready for episode 12 of the tenth series. We now know of course that that was not true but at the time that was obviously not known. The odds went up so much on Kris Marshall that betting was suspended for a while.

6. Luke Treadway - Luke's name fits the bill for another one of the Mirror's rumours. The mirror previously reported that Chris Chibnall was looking for a Doctor in his 30's to match the appeal of the David Tennant era. Luke's name was even suggested by the former Doctor, Christopher Eccleston

7. Pheobe Waller Bridge (2) - Pheobe returned just briefly for a day after BBC Newsnight strongly suggested that she was playing the 13th Doctor, causing her agent to outright say that she was not the 13th Doctor. However Phoebe did say she was not in the Han Solo film but she is, so her name isn't completely of the cards.

8. Kris Marshall (3) - Kris Marshall still dwindles in the top spots even when not in the favourite seat. When Phoebe lost her position Kris just retook the top spot.

9. Jodi Whitaker - Best known for playing Danny's mum in Broadchurch (which Chris Chibnall created and wrote). She has recently sprung right to the top and is the current favourite. This is what happened with Peter Capaldi when he was announced. Only a few days before he was announced as the Doctor he became number 1 from out of the blue. Therefore as she has sprung to number one so late onto the betting and has not been in the top 5 before this, does this mean she is the 13th Doctor?

Number of days in Top spot

1. Kris Marshall - 53 days
2. Luke Treadway - 43 days
3. Ben Wishaw - 29 days
4. Phoebe Waller Bridge - 21 days
5. Tilda Swinton - 14 days
6. Jodi Whitaker - 3 days

There we have it. Kris Marshall is the long running favourite, someone who has been in the position for three times, but not necessarily for a long time in each period. He is still in the top 5 now. In second place we have Luke Treadway who was in the top spot for a long period of time, but this was due to lack of advertisement and speculation on who the 13th Doctor would be. Third is the original, Ben Wishaw. Fourth is Phoebe who still resides in the top 5 position. Tilda Swinton is next and last is the current Jodi Whitaker.

None of the top 5 have been non-white actors but three have been female, all of which are placed fourth, fifth and sixth. However this doesn't mean that the Doctor want be a female because you have to look at the current top 5 not all time and also half of the favourites have been female, which is a lot considering how many actors there are in the world and how many are in the top 20 (which also includes former Doctor Who actor David Tennant and politician Jeremy Corbyn).

Analysing the current top 5

1. Jodi Whitaker - The current number one just sprang out of no where, just like Peter Capaldi did on the last few days before his announcement. Does this mean she will be the next doctor?

2. Kris Marshall - The long running favourite still resides in the number two spot. Out of all the actors this is the only one where a tabloid as reported that he is the Doctor as fact.

3. Phoebe Waller Bridge - The only actor to be on here who has officially stated that she is not the Doctor. She has lied before so what's to say she isn't lying this time.

4. Tom Rosenthall - A relatively unknown actor who has also stared in Broadchurch. He too fits the bill of a 30's Doctor

5. David Harwood - A name that appears every time a new Doctor is to be decided. He has previously been in Doctor Who, playing Joshua Naismith.

The current top 5 contain a ratio of 3:2 male to female and a 4:1 white to black. It appears that the betting services believe that a female Doctor is more likely than a black one. I however think that the actor is likely to be a black first then a female.

Analysing the List Poll

In January when Peter Capaldi announced on Jo Whiley' show that Series 10 would be his last I set up a poll to see what my readers thought about the demand for a female or non-white Doctor. As the results above show all 8 people that voted all thought the same. No to a female Doctor but yes to a non-white one. I also hold this opinion and I have to say that I am one of the people who voted for that. Despite my belief I do not want Chris Chibnall to go out looking for a non-white Doctor. If a non-white Doctor auditions for the role and is the best then cast him. I don't want it to just be because it is 'fair'. Certain Doctors such as Peter Davison, Colin Baker and David Tennant did not audition for the role but were hand picked. If a black or non-white Doctor was picked I would sincerely hope that it is because they are the best choice for the role and not because they are black. Many people are in favour of having a female Doctor so my poll here is not reflective of an entire community but it seems that my readers are all against the idea. I believe that the Doctor should also ways be cased because they fit the character the best not fit the character around the actor. Many people who want a female Doctor would feel the same I am sure but I believe that it is actually impossible to have a Doctor that is designed to be played by a female. If we take the Master for example there is no way that Michelle Gomez got the part because she fitted the character the best. The character was always intended to be a woman in series 8. I think that this is wrong to focus so much on pandering to feminists that you could jeopardy a Doctor, a lead star. I'm not saying that Missy wasn't a good character and she certainly was popular with half of the fandom but I do believe that taking that risk with the main star is to risky. Back to my earlier point about it being impossible to cast a female to fit the character. If the showrunner is a fan of the show, which they better be, then they might well have thought for a long time about what they were going to do with the show. The might very well have their own Doctor already in their head. That Doctor would have to be a man. The only reason for it to be a woman is for the showrunner to think that a woman should play the role, which therefore is against how I believe the casting process should go for the Doctor. Sorry for my long rant but I do want to say now that whoever is cast as the 13th Doctor I still will be watching despite the fact that if it is a female I will be dreadfully upset.