Isn't it always though? People will always find something to complain about the casting choice. This time it's because it's a woman. Last time it was because Capaldi was much older than the New Who Doctor's had previously been. I didn't start watching until towards the end of Tennant's era so wasn't following the 11th Doctor reveal but I expect there was a portion of so called fans who said Matt Smith was too young. You can't please everyone.

One day if the show continues they'll cast someone, male or female, who isn't white and that'll be another reason for some to complain about it. 

And I bet that as usual half the people who say they won't watch because of the casting choice actually will watch and will later admit that it worked out fine. 

Yeah a lot of people have said the writing in the recent series hasn't been as strong. I've enjoyed them since Moffat took over but the Russel T Davies series were better IMO. My favourite I think remains series 4. 

I've enjoyed Capaldi in the role though, I just don't think he had the best scripts to work with most of the time. 

A change in head writer may be just what this show needs. Fortunately that happens with the next regeneration. 

I was actually saying this to a friend of mine last week. Cast a black actor to play a character written as white = no problem (they've done this with the Stephen King Dark Tower film, though I personally don't have an issue with Idris Elba in the role). 

Do the reverse = racism. 

At least in the case of Doctor Who with the regeneration feature it's completely canon for a gender swap (and an actor race swap) to occur, though it's also been made clear that a gender swap is rare so I don't expect a female Doctor is going to be anywhere close to the norm for the future of the show. 

In the episode Hell Bent the Time Lord known as The General regenerates from a white male to a black female. The episode implies that the previously seen male incarnation was the odd one out. So the so called 14th Doctor (which will technically be the 16th incarnation) should, based on lore, be male again.  

I'm in agreement, I've always found it really hypocritical when there's backlash when a white person is cast in a role that was written as another race, but not when it's the reverse.

Yes. He ran out with Matt Smith's 11th Doctor but they wrote it into the program in his last episode that he got another regeneration cycle, starting with Capaldi. They wouldn't have had to do that for a while but they kinda shot themselves in the foot by adding in John Hurt's War incarnation in between the 8th and 9th and having 10th regenerate but keep the same face during series 4, meaning Tennant counts as two as far as regeneration's go.

Of course not. They kill The Master 'permanently' all the time (TV movie & Last of the Time Lords being two such instances) only for eventual resurrection in one form or another. They even established in this very series that Time Lord's can have relapses of life which was why the Doctor was supposed to guard her body for 1000 years after her execution that he was supposed to carry out. The character will be back with a new, presumably male, face, though maybe a Doctor or two down the line. 

New Doctor came across as hyperactive. My impression is that she's like a female Tennant. Found her more immediately likable than Smith and Capaldi, who both needed several episodes to grow on me.

The lack of a intro and new titles and theme to go with them was a surprise and actually a disappointment. 

And spoiler for those who've not watched it yet:

Where the hell is the TARDIS? Are they going to spend the whole season looking for it?

Overall I think it's been a decent DW season. Not RTD era excellent but decent and every episode has been better than some of the later Smith and early Capaldi ones (also Jodie is the first Doctor since Tennant my kids have liked). I'm just hoping Internet moaning minnies don't get Jodie replaced or worse, the series canceled altogether. Every week certain quarters are launching online attacks against everything about the series they can think of, when it's really not at all different to previous seasons. To me the fact that people are complaining about it being PC - especially in regard to the racially diverse cast, shows that last week's Rosa episode was completely justified. 

I swear most of the complaints are by people who don't really understand the series. Such as last week complaining not about the message of the episode but the sheer fact they did a historical episode. It's a show about time travel. There always has been historical episodes. or complaining that Jodie isn't The Doctor - completely missing the point about regeneration being about change. And honestly she still reminds me of Tennant's portrayal a lot. 

Pretty accurate I reckon. Guess these people will really explode if the Doctor ever regenerates as anything but white. Unless they manage to cast Idris Elba. Everyone seems pretty much okay with that as far as I can tell. 

I have mixed feelings, four episodes in to series 11. I like the new Doctor, but I don't think having three companions and giving the series more of an ensemble feel is really allowing her to shine. As for the companions, to my surprise it's Bradley Walsh who seems to be the best of the three. I kind of assumed that he'd end up being the third (well, fourth) wheel of the group. I don't dislike the other two, but I don't see that they've developed much character yet. Ryan was pretty ridiculous in episode 2, trying to run off and fight like that and thinking he could because he plays video games. It was a really, really cringe-worthy scene for me. I did like most of the opener except for making us wait so long to even see the Doctor and the Rosa Parks episode was a solid drama, but then again last week the spider episode was quite poor.

I don't think the last few seasons have been up to the standard seen from 1 through 6, well, 7 and a half actually. For me it actually turn a downturn when Amy and Rory went. The 50th was good though (but I'd have preferred Amy and Rory to have stuck around till then, since they're the companion's most associated with Smith) and I did think 9 was the standout of Capaldi's tenure, but then 10 had some downright weak episodes. 11 seems to be going the same way so far.

Won't be the first DW series to have a real dud in it. Even series 2 had the bloody awful Love & Monsters in it. Hopefully it's the only one in series 11 though. We're getting four episodes written by people other than Chibnall from tomorrow, so it'll be interesting if the quality picks up.

Overall I can't say the first half of series 11 has been significantly worse than series 10, which definitely wasn't as good as 9 (the best Capaldi series for me). I know a lot of people are going to say this is worse and blame the female Doctor, but Jodie can't help the writing she's given to work with. The early parts of last week seemed so out of character for any incarnation of the Doctor to me. But even Tennant couldn't have saved last week's episode and for all the complainers I don't think anyone can honestly say any past Doctor would have made the current series better. It's the writing that's the problem.

Episodes 1 & 3 were really good though.

Doctor Who doesn't have the quality it once did, which is a writing issue, but I'll be disappointed for a number of reasons if this is correct (which I expect it is per the above). Mainly because I don't think we've seen the best Jodie can do yet and I don't think they can adequately resolve the Timeless Child reveal of the last season in a shorter 2021 season. Also because it is going to be an even shorter season than the already shorter seasons due to Covid. And I really hate the three and out trend. Is it really too much to ask to bring a bit of unpredictability into the program?

Hopefully that's a sign that the BBC knows the writing under Chris Chibnall hasn't been up to snuff. 

Best known for Sex Education on Netflix.

Which would explain why I've never heard of him. 

He is the first black lead of the show, albeit not the first black Doctor.

The cynical part of me sees this casting as just trying to appease the woke crowd, but I'm withholding judgement until we get to see his performance. Ultimately it is not the actor that will save this show, but the showrunner. I'm hopeful because its Russell T David again. Chibnall really did Jodie Whitaker's era dirty. The last two specials were kinda crap. 

Just hoping she gets one last hurrah before bowing out. 

Been enough rumours floating around about it that the regeneration wasn't a surprise. Won't say much for those who did not watch The Power of the Doctor yet, but I'm already formulating theories.