British Tabloids The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express and others published nude or topless photos of actress Jodie Whittaker, the 13th Doctor, proving their world view hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years.
BBC announced on Sunday that Jodie Whittaker would take over from Peter Capaldi as the 13th Doctor, the Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, who travels through time in the Tardis, in BBC drama Doctor Who. Jodie is the first woman actor to play the fictional, benevolent alien being in human form, something that seems to have set off a lot of existential and identity crises in men.
Guardian reports that tabloids, including The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Star and Daily Express, published nude or topless photos of Jodie. What this establishes – beyond the fact that these papers will do almost anything to get their circulation up – is that the one era the Time Lord hasn’t yet visited is whatever century these publications base their moral compass on.
An organisation – Equal Representation for Actresses – issued a statement condemning The Sun, and said, “We are delighted by the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. However, we are surprised and disappointed by the Daily Mail and The Sun’s reductive and irresponsible decision to run a story featuring pictures of Jodie in various nude scenes.”
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While Twitter and other online platforms saw a lot of reactionary posts and complaints of “PC Culture gone mad!”, the British tabloid The Sun – owned by Rupert Murdoch – also published a scathing editorial on the casting, and said, ““it is frankly nauseating that the [BBC] should now get on their sci-fi high horse and gallop into Right-Onsville to plonk a woman sheriff in town.” The Sun’s editorial also said Jodie’s casting was a publicity move.
Because, publishing naked pictures of women isn’t one!