Meh, Sarkeesian is to the feminist movement, what the MRA people who accidentally made the unpleasant woman famous are to gamers. After a quick look at the article (I do not want to give that ****stirrer a click) it seems she's not actually bothered to even watch the show before attempting to take issue with it.
Purely anecdotally I realise - a load of people in my wider social group who stopped watching the show during the latter half of the Matt Smith era are now interested in watching it again. And ultimately whilst the income from international views/merchandise sales are sure to be a lovely moneymaker for BBC
Worldwide (and gain importance come 2020), it's the
BBC who are in charge of what goes on with the show. Not any of it's international branches - all of which I believe are technically separate entities. And until 2020 at least, they're a public service broadcaster who's remit, whilst informed by profit/viewing figures, isn't entirely beholden to it due to the license fee.
As to the list of female characters, whilst most are actually decent examples, I note that the vast majority are from shows that are ensemble casts rather than resting on a single lead/mostly female ensemble.
And in a "I can name genre shows too" moment
Handmaid's Tale is currently airing on Channel 4 over here, and Orphan Black is one of the best programmes that isn't on TV at the moment. (Which will lead to the next point about UK-viewership) Less critically acclaimed iZombie seems to be doing well on Netflix UK, as does Once Upon A Time.
However - the vast majority of the shows listed are aimed at adults, not kids, and I hate to say this - didn't really register on this side of the pond in the same manner that Who's managed.
Whilst all gained their own fanbase over here, they tended to be aired on obscure channels that the vast majority of the viewing public didn't bother with. I remember Charmed used to be aired on the Sunday afternoon deathslot in a mega-marathon with Stargate and Star Trek Enterprise (though frankly Charmed is an awful awful show that copied Buffy's schtick less well), similarly whilst it did gain a hell of a following even over here, Buffy was not treated well in the UK. With the BBC airing heavily edited versions of the episodes so that it could continue to be shown before the watershed... And the channel that bought the rights to Angel giving up on it entirely midway through it's first season, when their ridiculously edited pre-watershed copies of the show ceased to be able to actually make sense.
Queen of Swords wasn't shown in the UK until 2008 on an obscure little channel that I've never heard of... Though being a genre fan I
have watched the show, though it was a difficult one to seek out. Need I continue? Sadly, I think the only show from the listed examples that truly fits the bill (Given that Buffy wasn't brought up - and only dubiously matches the 'OK for kids' criteria that everyone else seems to be ignoring) is probably Xena, and that show ended over a decade ago.
Sadly Doctor Who is rather out on it's own in terms of British TV, being both genre TV, and aimed at families. To point out the viewership it commands - The show managed to remain in the Top 30 watched shows of the week every time it was aired since the 2005 revival. Unfortunately given the competition for rights on this side of the pond most US-made TV just doesn't get that opportunity, Game of Thrones being the major exception, and again it's got a massive ensemble cast (or in the case of Orphan Black the BBC just didn't care enough about it to keep airing it... So after several seasons only getting broadcasts months and months after the US-release it eventually got orphaned onto Netflix.)
I'm not one of the extreme group that would have been upset had 13 been male. However, I am quite excited to see where the show goes from here with it's new showrunner, new Doctor and hopefully change of tone that's as breath-of-fresh-air as the transition from the RTD-era to the Moffat-era was in 2009. Whilst I enjoyed Capaldi himself I utterly agree with the assessment around these parts that Moffat was totally up his own *** by the end of his run. The man's jokes were always cringe-inducing however, but then they have been since the 90s, nothing's really changed there. Moffat doesn't do characterisation well, he never has. His characters are always there to deliver knowing winks to the audience. The fact that both the extreme liberals and the extreme conservatives hate him for exactly the same reason these days, just from opposite sides, is rather telling.
As to the 'broflake' issue? The people throwing insults like that are just as lacking in empathy for those upset by this choice as the people sneeringly saying 'Nurse-Who' as if Doctor is a gendered word in the English language... It's funny how it's 'only a joke' if you happen to agree with the person saying the derogatory term in question isn't it? Whilst I generally just try to avoid the trolls rather than start an argument, they somewhat literally mobbed the main Doctor Who discussion forum on the night of the announcement to the extent that the mods were basically begging the regulars to not rise to the bait whilst they brought the forum back to it's usual 'family-friendly' state (I point out that sometimes the place is like a 70s old boys club) that wasn't filled with swearing, speculation about the new lead actor's reproductive rights (yes they went there), and general low level nastiness that you normally only find on 4chan.
Whilst it's one thing to critique the idiots on the far-left who genuinely are making it difficult to have a worthwhile discussion about any issue, it's another thing entirely to completely dismiss everyone who's excited to see which direction the show will take now. Especially since this thread is beginning to descend into the unpleasant echo-chamber effect itself.
Eh - sorry. The sneering back-patting as you guys oh so cleverly dismiss the BBC as SJWs - a term that for having never heard it before until Sunday evening I've rapidly come to
loathe - belies your ignorance of the extremely delicate political situation that the broadcaster is in right now. Several successive governments (Both left and right) have done their best to undermine the corporation, being (rightfully) terrified of a broadcaster who's remit is to be politically
neutral and instituting real-term budget cuts for over a decade. I think it's very telling that both the left and the right regularly accuse the corporation of bias to the other side.
However that's neither here nor there - Doctor Who is a show that I've adored since I was a kid. (Seriously - I have bookshelves full of Who-novels
) Whilst it's been lovely seeing people get excited about the show again, I do wish those who aren't happy about the decision would have a more open mind and not immediately resort to childishly insulting the other side and then acting surprised when their trolls react in kind.