‘Doctor Who’ Is Copping Heat For Being “Overwhelmingly Written By Men”
'Doctor Who' used no female writers for at least five of its ten series.
A letter penned by 76 female television writers in the UK claims that British drama is “overwhelmingly written by men”, and that female writers are afforded few opportunities in the business. Amongst the shows referenced, the letter singled out the long running sci-fi series Doctor Who for criticism.
The letter, published on Broadcast, claims that Doctor Who used no female writers for at least five of its ten rebooted series. Other shows mentioned include the procedural drama Silent Witness.
How is it 2018 and it’s taken until now for someone to be like ‘having a diverse team of writers on Doctor Who is important and essential’
— Beth (@0hMySt4rs) March 1, 2018
The signatories in the letter pointed towards the excellent crime-drama Happy Valley as an example of a ratings hit written by a woman. It also acknowledged that there have been more cases of female characters and stories being represented on screen.
“It is great to see that women’s stories are now being told. It’s just that we feel we might be better qualified to tell our own stories,” said the letter.
Similarly, Doctor Who announced in July that they have cast Jodie Whittaker as the first ever female Doctor, meaning that there is increased scrutiny on the amount of women involved in the production of the show.
Since Doctor Who was rebooted back in 2005, only eight episodes out of 134 carry a writers credit from a woman. In fact, only four female writers have worked on the series: Rona Munro, Catherine Tregenna, Helen Raynor and Sarah Dollard.
The show has only hired five female directors over the same time period.
The BBC’s head of drama Piers Wenger has defended Doctor Who, saying that since he took over the portfolio more than 40 percent of the dramas commissioned had been written by women. He also said that a larger number of scripts for the new season of Doctor Who were being written by women.
“Having a diverse team on that show feels appropriate, important and essential,” said Wenger.