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As progressive as Doctor Who is , it took a prospicient time for it to employ more adult female behind the camera and develop sound female character .
Barbara Clegg , the first cleaning lady to write an episode ofDoctor Who , passed aside this hebdomad at the age of 98 . Clegg would go on to pen the first serial that was both written and address by women ( with Fiona Cumming directing ) . That was " Enlightenment , " the Fifth Doctor ( Peter Davison ) adventure program in 1983 . guess about it . It engage twenty years for a woman to finally get to spell an sequence ofDoctor WhodespiteVerity Lambertbeing the first producer of the show when it premiered in 1963 .
" Enlightenment " was the only story Barbara Clegg write forDoctor Who . Do n’t feel bad for her , though . She had a full and fertile career as an actress and self-employed person scriptwriter who worked on many television serial publication , including the grievous bodily harm operaCrossroads . The bad narration is how much adult female were marginalise in front of and behind the photographic camera in the TV industry until the 21st Century . EveryDoctor Whostory from 1963 until 1983 had been written by men and compose as Boys ' Own Adventures .
That means the female characters , commonly the MD ’s companions , were often give short shrift . They were often relegated to standing around demand The Doctor what was going on so he could info - dump to them and the viewer and explain the plot . And they were also there to call when the monster turned up like Barbara did when she saw the Daleks in their first story . They were there to be the damsel - in - distress because that was the default mode for manlike writers of that point and still is to an extent . Even when they introduced Leela ( Louise Jameson ) , a warrior from a succeeding tribe of lost humans , the writer often had to be reminded not to make her the " damsel - in - distress " and that she was there to protect the Doctor .
Doctor Who in the 80s: Slow Progress
The eighties was when the logic gate began to give for distaff writers onDoctor Who . Husand - and - wife writing teamPip and Jane Bakercreated The Rani ( play to summer camp perfection byKate O’Mara ) and wrote several stories in the Sixth Doctor ( Colin Baker ) run . Scottish playwrightRona Munrowrote the final Seventh Doctor tale , " Survival , " in the former twelvemonth of her career and has since thrived as a dramatist and screenwriter , returning in 2017 to pen the Thirteenth Doctor ( Jodie Whittaker ) fib , " The Eaters of Light . “During the other 1980s , companion who were supposed to be more proactive were often still classify to abide around asking The Doctor what was going on and then being put in distress .
Janet Fieldinghad signed on to play Tegan Jovanka as a spunky , queer " Lucy Van Pelt in blank space " who would n’t let The Doctor get out with lording it over everyone but was relegated to whining all the time and being the one fellow traveller in the serial history who really did n’t desire to be there . Mel ( Bonnie Langford ) was supposed to be a computer expert , but she was also bump to again asking what was proceed on , screaming at monster , and require deliver – she was n’t even image anywhere near a computer terminal throughout her intact meter on the show!It was whenAndrew Cartmeltook over the serial as script editor in the belated 1980s that he inaugurate a more overtly political , inclusive , and progressive attitude to the show where Ace ( Sophie Aldred ) was a bit of a violence - prostrate delinquent and political protester who liked to blow affair up and beat up a Dalek with a baseball game at-bat .
Things Equalised in the 2000s
Ever sinceRussell T. Daviesrevived the series in 2005 , he and the other writer and showrunners after him have anneal female characters as adequate to men . The Doctor ’s distaff fellow traveller might still be there to ask what ’s going on , but they have adequate parts to roleplay in the plot . woman grapheme were now politicians , soldier , and as much part of the action as men . The series also commissioned more female writers , though they were still in the nonage each season , to the point where there wasan open lettersigned by 76 distaff writers demand for more histrionics in select - sentence television system . Chris Chibnallhired more women to write for his tally , including bestow back Rona Munro and commissioningNoughts and CrossesauthorMarjorie Blackman .
Some of the better stories were write by distaff author who delved into the Doctor ’s experience as a char in a way Chibnall and the manly writers did n’t . He and Davy also get back Tegan and Mel to give them the chance they never got in the 80s – Mel at long last work with computers . fellow traveller and female characters ca n’t be eye candy or demoiselle in distress anymore . Doctor Whohas always been a reform-minded show that moved ahead before many others did , and it know it still has a ways to go . Female fabricator bring difference nuances in storytelling and a variant on the emotional experiences written by men . Doctor Whois still evolving towards its future , last soma , and that will in all probability imply more writers and showrunners who are distaff and hoi polloi of color to reflect the times .
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