My vote for a female Doctor–although I hadn’t thought of Tilda Swinton and she would be incredible–is for Miranda Richardson. Or, at the very least, an older companion, one not interested in romance with the Doctor. I know you have to have someone the kids can identify with, but unwillingness to deviate from “the formula” is nothing more than a lack of imagination.

Barbara may have been the toughest companion the Doctor ever had, although she screams a few times during her tenure. But yeah, Leela and Romana were by far the most feminist companions.

Chris Boucher has been playing with the idea that Leela is often right where the Doctor is wrong in his novels, especially “Match of the Day.” It’s a neat twist on the Doctor-Leela relationship.

The high point for Doctor Who was in the late 1970s, with companions Leela and Romana (I and II). That period is really very feminist and progressive; in particular, the Doctor is very often clearly wrong and the companion is right (though the Doctor never admits it, because he’s so arrogant). The companion-Doctor relationships are noticably different from the norm in both cases.

Also, guest cast roles are usually without sex stereotyping during this period, which is certainly not true of earlier or later periods, including Russell’s.

Interestingly, the original 1963 lineup (with Barbara Wright) was also better than many subsequent periods.

The worst periods are 1971-1973 (Jo Grant) and 1984-1985 (Peri). Unfortunately, Russell’s tenure so far, while better than those, is pretty much average-to-poor from a feminist POV. Rose is really just a more believable Ace, or a more modern Victoria. And Jackie, while a very entertaining character, is a broad and negative female stereotype. The only strong female characters in the last two seasons have turned out to be villains, and fairly cliched villians at that.