Jodie Whittaker will be the 13th. Doctor Who - the first time the part has been played by a woman.... in our time and space at least.

Full story on the BBC Radio Times Link.

Joanna Lumley was one of the Doctors in "Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death" which was produced as a comic relief special and was a parody of the main series.

Political correctness gone mad!

You know your getting old when you can only remember the first 4 docs

The series is well past its sell-by date by now. Does anyone really care who the new Doctor Who is? For that matter, does anyone over the age of twelve watch it?

How can you express an opinion on it when you don't watch it (I don't watch it either)?

It reminds me of someone that was criticising the current services in Birkenhead Library and Birkenhead Central Station when they hadn't used either nor stepped in the buildings for at least 40 years!

How can you express an opinion without knowing whether I have watched it?

It so happens I watched an episode a week or two back after a gap lasting from the first episodes which I watched with my children.

I thought it had got worse rather than better. The dialogue was stilted. The doctor's 'eccentricities' unconvincing, the story was feeble in the extreme. They have clearly run out of any new and original plots to present. As to the present 'Doctor' I thought he was more concerned with projecting his own personality than adding conviction to the story line.

A child might be convinced by it, but it now carries so much baggage from its History - e.g. what is a time lord, why the Tardis is bigger inside than outside, what a police box is or a sonic screwdriver - that this might prove too incomprehensible to be acceptable even to a new viewer.

The sad truth is that you can really only get so many episodes from an idea. Once you exceed a certain point it turns inevitably into something resembling a soap. It is clear that the good doctor has now reached this sad stage.

You will note that I have not referred even once to either Birkenhead Library or Birkenhead Central station in my critique.

The viewing figures (over 5m UK) and sales to other networks (at least 50) would disagree with you. Its possibly a profit making program because of the demand and would subsidise other programs (and fat salaries).

Like you, I was brought up on the early Dr Who series and its difficult not to think that it was better then, it was certainly far more creative/inventive for its era but in this age of cgi its impossible to go beyond what is already out there. On the other hand I used to like 80% of music in the charts and its more like 10% now. I can't stand listening to radio 1 etc etc, things move on, tastes change, imaginations change.

At 65 I've throughly enjoyed most of the various incarnations of The Doctor since William Hartnell. Plotting and scripts are not always perfect, but it's gloriously imaginative - and the special effects achievable now make it visually impressive. We've come along way since bubble wrap monsters and sink plunger daleks! The approach and the target audience has shifted somewhat over the years; it's a roller coaster ride and I'll be very interested to see what Jodie Whittaker brings to the role, and if there is a companion or companions - and who he/she/they might be. Bring it on!

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree again. Viewing figures are no indication of quality. Often the reverse is true. Look at the viewing figures the soaps attract, for instance, and they are universally acclaimed as crap, even by the viewers themselves. (I speak as a listener to the Archers.)

Even in its early episodes I never thought much of Dr Who, but even so you can only push even a good idea for a series so far, and I'm afraid the Doctor has gone well beyond that. From the episode I saw recently it has now morphed into something resembling a soap.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the occasional crappy program of course. I am as prone to it as the next man - I have even watched 'Casualty'! - but I try to make an objective assessment of the quality of the program nevertheless.

As to pop music, I have never liked it and find much of it unbearable. I love jazz and classical music but I am selective in what I listen to and prefer playing both myself to listening to it. A constant background of 'pop' is my idea of hell on earth.

It's a case of each to their own Ex. I couldn't watch Doctor Who and equally couldn't listen to jazz.