Older Women in Dr Who

[watervole]

I've been doing a rewatch of New Who and have been struck by one very strong point - which probably goes a long way to explaining why I like this show.

It has people like me.

Episode after episode has decent parts for older women.  They cover a wide range of jobs and personalities, from Jackie Tyler to Harriet Jones.  There's engineers, aliens, politicians, space crew, journalists, mothers, etc.

They aren't all 'designer' women made up to the hilt trying to be glamorous.  They're normal women, doing normal jobs.  They're real people facing extraordinary circumstances and coping with them in all kinds of ways.

In so many shows, older women are virtually non-existent.  We applaud the rare ones that appear and make the most of them, but Dr Who has them there regularly.  It's not just regular characters like Donna and River Song, it's also a steady stream of supporting characters.

To the Doctor Who team, THANK YOU

Judith

Comments

[keris]

Ah, that's probably why Certain People don't like it. Women in Doctor Who? OK, you can have companions and the occasional alien girl, who are basically there to scream and be rescued, but original Who was (as most SF of the time) rather short on older female role-models.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Yet, you know, during the RTD era, all these older women were either stupid, hysterical or came to a BAD END. That last even includes everyone else's favourite Donna.

We used to remark on it while watching...

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Yes, that was my sense, too. They are there, but with the exception of Sarah Jane (who I never liked), they are there to be reprimanded, squashed or controlled. Plus most of them conform to the norm that women should occupy as little space as possible by being thin.
One of the reasons I love the Swedish Wallander is that it's full of fully rounded, sensible, decent older women who are just people.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Joyously, the Swedish Wallander is about to be released on DVD at a still-excessive but, at least, accessible price.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Yes, I saw that. Good news.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Jackie Tyler isn't thin. And she's her own woman.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

She's medium sized, yes. But she's portrayed most of the time as only barely competent, needy, requiring a man, and screechy.
I liked Martha's mother.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

There are also episodes (like the one I just watched, 'Love and Monsters') where she recognises her own failings and knows where they come from and turns down an intelligent, willing man.

At first, I saw her as a stereotype, but I'm getting a lot more from her second time around.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Actually, no. They've been doing pretty well in the sample I'm watching.

In today's episode, the old lady people thought was dotty turned out to be right all along.

[coth.livejournal.com]

I do agree in general, but they do seem to get a raw deal and sacrifice themselves to, or get squished by, the plot rather a lot.

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

That's true of Who guest stars generally, though - it's not confined by age or gender.

I got thoroughly sick of the trope which continually excused the Doctor from making a tough decision.

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

If you are saying that the older women come to a bad end, then you must also take into account that older men, younger women, and younger men also come to a bad end. There's a lot of death in Doctor Who.

[jon-a-five.livejournal.com]

I'm quite pleased that the two companions who are married. No 'will they, won't they?' nonsense. It's something that I loved in Firefly too (which has the nonsense as well, for those who like it).

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I adore happily married couples in SF. JOhn and Delen in B5.

Generally, married couples are like hen's teeth.

[julesjones]

A lot of my irritation with the death of Ianto in Torchwood came from the fact that we had a show with not one but two happy couples, and they then proceeded to fridge the girlfriend with one of them so we could have lots of dramatic manpain. I shall be Annoyed if anything happens to Rhys this series, I like having a show with a happy couple.