--- description: The new season of "Doctor Who" is about to premiere, but many are wondering when a woman will be stepping into the role of the Time Lord. title: BBC's TV Director Wants to See a Woman Doctor Who image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt775f96acc2220387/6986a07c361760163290d8f7/doctor-who-11.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # BBC's TV Chief Wants To See a Female Lead on Doctor Who by [Megan Gibson](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 22, 2014 11:39 AM CUT  Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith Eleventh Doctor - Matt SmithBBC/AP by [Megan Gibson](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 22, 2014 11:39 AM CUT After more than 30 season with a male lead on _Doctor Who_, many have said it’s time for a [woman to take a turn](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bbc-tv-chief-hopes-see-726733 "undefined") as the Time Lord, [including Helen Mirren](http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-07-03/dame-helen-mirren-a-gay-black-female-doctor-who-would-be-the-best-of-all "undefined"). Now adding his voice to the chorus is BBC’s director of television, Danny Cohen. Speaking at the annual Edinburgh TV Festival on Aug. 21, Cohen was asked whether he thought there would be a woman Doctor Who. His response? “I hope so,” though he also added that he wasn’t sure when that would happen. The latest season of the sci-fi show is about to debut on Aug. 23, with actor Peter Capaldi in the role of the eponymous character. (Matt Smith played the Doctor in the previous season.) Capaldi, who is best known for his role in _The Thick of It_, was cast as the new lead in 2013 and appeared in last year’s Christmas special _The Time of the Doctor_. Back in May, _Doctor Who_ showrunner Steven Moffat said during [a Q&A at the Hay Festival](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10857320/A-female-Doctor-Who-Not-if-politics-has-anything-to-do-with-it.html "undefined") that if a woman did take on the role it wouldn’t be due to “political correctness.” “It will not happen that somebody sits down and says we must turn the Doctor into a woman,” he said. “That is not how you cast the Doctor. A person will pop into the showrunner’s head and they’ll think. ‘Oh, my God, what if it was that person?’ And when that person is a woman, that’s the day it will happen.” \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bbc-tv-chief-hopes-see-726733 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3158822/bbc-female-doctor-who/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3158822/bbc-female-doctor-who/"},"headline":"BBC's TV Chief Wants To See a Female Lead on Doctor Who","datePublished":"2014-08-22T11:39:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:48:17.035Z","description":"The new season of \"Doctor Who\" is about to premiere, but many are wondering when a woman will be stepping into the role of the Time Lord.","url":"https://time.com/3158822/bbc-female-doctor-who/","keywords":["Television","doctor who","BBC"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt775f96acc2220387/6986a07c361760163290d8f7/doctor-who-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Gibson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/megan-gibson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt775f96acc2220387/6986a07c361760163290d8f7/doctor-who-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Doctor Who Experience","caption":"Doctor Who","creditText":"BBC/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3158822/bbc-female-doctor-who/","name":"BBC's TV Chief Wants To See a Female Lead on Doctor Who"}}]}] ```