'Doctor Who' poll: Should the Twelfth Doctor be female?

While Doctor Who has been endlessly experimental and forward-thinking with its storylines, it's also a stickler for tradition - where would it be without its old police box?

Torchwood star John Barrowman suggested this week that producers "should go out on a limb" and make the next Doctor a woman, picking Catherine Tate's Donna Noble as a possible candidate.

Of course, there was a female Time Lord in 'The End of Time', and there's even been a female Doctor (of sorts). Joanna Lumley inherited the Sonic Screwdriver in a 1999 Comic Relief special Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, which was penned by a certain Steven Moffat...

Former boss Russell T. Davies certainly wasn't against the idea of a female Doctor and said that he wouldn't mind seeing Lesley Sharp or Catherine Zeta-Jones in the role.

Former Who actor Noel Clarke also makes the point that The Doctor's alien origin and changing identity means "there is no reason why it can't be a woman, an alien, a man, a fellow".

If the next showrunner agrees, would such a move be radical? And if so, would it change the dynamic of the show for better or worse?



Watch Catherine Tate as The Doctor Donna in 'Journey's End' below:



Watch Joanna Lumley as The Doctor in Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death below: