Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor - the first female Doctor on Doctor Who - deserved better than what departing showrunner Chris Chibnall delivered. Whittaker is a tremendous actor, and the idea of a female Doctor piloting the TARDIS was more than just a little compelling. But the Chibnall era that emerged felt somewhat disjointed, and neither The Doctor nor her companions ever felt thoroughly developed.
For a Timelord capable of regenerating body and personality every time their current incarnation faced imminent death, it certainly took a long time for the lead role to fall into a woman's hand. Former showrunner Steven Moffat first began laying the ingredients for a future female Doctor with the very first words of Matt Smith and The Eleventh Doctor's era. Immediately upon regenerating, Eleven examined himself and for a moment - due to his hair length - suspected he could be a woman. Moffat would go on to underscore that possibility throughout the Twelfth Doctor's era. He first introduced a female Master; then triggered The General's regeneration from male to female form when The Doctor extracted Clara from her timeline; and finally, showcased a frank discussion between Bill and The Doctor where he posited he could have been a woman before.
And yet, despite all the hints and groundwork laid in to prepare audiences for an inevitable female incarnation, there were still detractors to the concept. Fan boards lit up as debates raged across the Whoniverse over whether Whittaker replacing Capaldi on Doctor Who could herald the program's end. With thirteen male incarnations - that's including the War Doctor - preceding her, Whittaker had a lot riding on her shoulders. But with underdeveloped characters, underwhelming story arcs, and subpar execution, The Thirteenth Doctor's era felt unlike what came before for all the wrong reasons. Whittaker did her best with the material, which is why the problematic Chibnall era shouldn't reflect so much on the gender of the title character as the operations behind the scenes.
A female Doctor is still a brilliant idea. Had Chibnall stuck to the successful formula of the 9-thru-12 incarnations, things might have been different. Instead, he immersed himself in the series' lore and repeated what had worked in the 1960s, placing four people in the TARDIS straight off the bat. While the idea that the first female Doctor's first season gave her a self-proclaimed "fam" to look after is problematic in itself, such a crowded environment gave little opportunity for the Thirteenth Doctor to evolve into a multi-dimensional character of her own.
Character growth has been the underlying weakness of the entire Chibnall era. When Ryan and Graham left the TARDIS following the holiday special, "Revolution of the Daleks," the best evolution they could claim was Ryan's willingness to keep trying to ride a bike and Graham's understanding that aliens do visit Sheffield. Previous companions became warriors and saviors of the universe and love interests and parents of The Doctor's wife. Yet despite introducing concepts like Graham having cancer, Yaz being a member of law enforcement, and Ryan having coordination and family issues, each thread barely became more than a blip in the true journeys of the Doctor's companions.
The Thirteenth Doctor's evolution has seemed to only lead to significant periods of self-doubt, struggling even to understand her own history. The Thirteenth Doctor might have been better served beginning her era with Bill still at her side, a companion who was unafraid to ask the right questions and challenge the Doctor into revealing truths typically left unsaid. Regardless of how the Thirteenth Doctor's era comes to an end on Doctor Who, let Whittaker's era not be the final judgment on female Doctors. Hopefully, she returns for the 60th anniversary special and gets to showcase her talent under the more capable storytelling hands of returning showrunner, Russell T. Davies.