And this year, they're especially excited because, for the first time in the show's

55-year history, the Doctor won't be played by a white British man — it'll be a woman.

“Oh brilliant!”

This move adds Doctor Who to an influx of sci-fi fantasy franchises who have already

put women at the helm.

But this new woman Doctor is expected to have a trait that those other heroines don't

have — a sense of humor.

“This is gonna be fun.”

For those of us not as invested in the show as this guy — Doctor Who is the story of

a mysterious alien being (known as the Doctor) who travels through time and space having

adventures and fighting evil.

But the Doctor has one particularly special ability — when the character is mortally

wounded, the doctor can regenerate into a new body.

The Doctor has had 13 different faces over the years — all white, British men.

This is one of the first episodes of Doctor Who, from 1965...

The Doctor was an eccentric old man who often relied on his more courageous companions to

get him out of some sticky situations.

Support me, dear boy.

In fact, in early concept notes from one of the show's co-creators, the character of

the Doctor was described as “a frail old man lost in time and space.”

But as time went on, and different actors rotated through the role, the Doctor went

from being a frail trickster to a male hero archetype.

The Third Doctor in particular played the role as an “action hero”

“Violent exercise makes me hungry.

Don't you agree?”

Fast forward to the Tenth Doctor, and the action hero traits had become baked into the

character...

“Leave this planet and never return — what do you say?

Yes.

All well then.

Thanks for that!”

But there's one particular personality trait that stayed from the beginning...

The Doctor has a gleeful, almost childlike

personality.

He's a hero with a sense of humor - which makes the character fun and compelling to

watch.

But that kind of character complexity has been

typically reserved for male heroes.

Female superheroes are very much pressured to be taken seriously because there

are so few of them, they have to do well.

In 2014, the last time good data was available, only 14% of mainstream sci-fi films had a woman

protagonist.

Women are not only vastly underrepresented

in sci-fi fantasy films, they're often restricted to generic superhero personalities.

If I think about the leading female superhero... think about the Wonder Woman

film...She's powerful she's strong … But she's not a funny funny character.

She laughs, but doesn't crack jokes, she doesn't have banter in the

same way that male superheroes can do.

That seriousness is consistent across most woman characters on-screen.

Take a look at this scene between Guardian of the Galaxy's heroine, Gamora, and one

of the film's villains, Nebula.

Gamora puts up a pretty awesome fight.

But compare that to Peter, the film's male hero...

notice the difference?

There's also Black Widow from The Avengers whose whole personality is built around being

stoic.

And Katniss Everdeen, who can do some serious damage with a bow and arrow but barely ever

drops her steely persona.

Of course, there are some examples of funny

heroines in film and television.

One of the earliest is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

These examples are still rare on-screen, but there is one medium where heroines have more

complex personalities...

Female characters who do humor, do very well in comics...

Squirrel Girl, Kamala Khan, Gwen Pool.

From a financial point of view, it is less of a risk.

Because there's less of a pressure

on a female-led title to do well, there's more room for comedy, there's more room for humor.

It's this scarcity of women superheroes in film and television that makes the new

female Doctor's role even more impactful.

This woman doctor is not only expected to be a great witty hero traveling through space

like her male predecessors, she could also push the boundaries of what a woman hero can

be...

To have a female Doctor, that's a win for a lot of us.

Women, young girls will get to see someone

that looks like them

be smart and interesting and funny and that is incredibly important.

So even if you're not one of the millions of people worldwide who watches Doctor Who,

next time you see an awesome new woman superhero, you might have the Doctor to thank.