Will Tilda Swinton Be the First Female Doctor Who?

Doctor Who is the longest-running show in the history of the BBC and part of the reason it has been able to soldier on for so long is because it is consistently able to recast the lead roles due to the Doctor being able to "regenerate." Following Doctor Who season 10, Peter Capaldi, the 12th Doctor in the history of the series, will be leaving the role, so the network needs to find a replacement for Doctor Who season 11. If the oddsmakers are to be believed, it could be none other than Tilda Swinton who winds up in charge of the Tardis.

According to Ladsbrokes, the 56-year-old Doctor Strange actress is the new odds-on favorite to become the new Doctor. She is currently going off at 7-2 odds, making her the new frontrunner for the job. In the long history of Doctor Who, no woman has ever played the Doctor and people are becoming more convinced that the BBC is going to go that way with it after Doctor Who season 10. Here is what Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes had to say about it.

"Whovian punters are becoming increasingly convinced the next Doctor will be female, and fingers are currently pointing towards Swinton."

Ladbrokes published a complete list of other actors and actresses who could be in contention for the highly-coveted role and the odds of them landing it. The list includes more than 20 candidates for Doctor Who season 11, which includes quite a few interesting names. James Bond star Ben Whishaw, who was the previously rumored frontrunner, is still going off at 10-1 odds, so there is a decent chance he could land the role. Idris Elba, who is also a big favorite among fans to take over the role of 007 if Daniel Craig retires, is also on this new Doctor list, but he is going off at 20-1. Another possibly interesting choice is Gwendoline Christie, who plays Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and stars in Game of Thrones. She is going off at 20-1 odds as well. Right behind Tilda Swinton is Death at a Funeral star Kris Marshall, who is going off at 4-1 and Broadchurch star Olivia Colman at 5-1. Rounding out the top 5 is Maxine Peake, who has pretty favorable 8-1 odds at the moment. Interestingly enough, that list favors women, which could point to history being made, even if Tilda Swinton isn't the one who makes it.

Steven Moffat will be leaving Doctor Who after the upcoming season after serving as showrunner since the show relaunched back in 2005. Moving forward, it will be Broadchurch showrunner Chris Chibnall who will be taking the reigns come Doctor Who Season 11. It seems like they will be going in an entirely new direction after season 10, with a new showrunner and new Doctor. Especially if they do pull the trigger and bring in the first ever female Doctor. It isn't clear yet if there will be a new companion, which would pretty much make it a totally clean slate, should that wind up happening as well. Interestingly, there have been rumors that former Doctor Who companion Billie Piper is also in the running to take over the job.

Peter Capaldi announced last month that Doctor Who Season 10 was going to be his last, which means he will ultimately have a three-season run as the Doctor, which isn't bad at all. There is no rush for the BBC to announce his replacement, since we still have all of Doctor Who season 10 to get through, but don't be surprised if we found out sometime soon that Tilda Swinton winds up being the one going on adventures in a time-traveling phone booth. Doctor Who season 10, which will consist of 12 episodes, is set to premiere on BBC April 15. Be sure to check out the full list of potential. Doctor Who contenders for yourself below.

Tilda Swinton - 7/2

Kris Marshall - 4/1

Olivia Colman - 5/1

Maxine Peake - 8/1

Ben Whishaw - 10/1

Richard Ayoade - 10/1

Andrew Buchan - 10/1

Reece Shearsmith - 12/1

Phoebe Waller-Bridge - 12/1

Rory Kinnear - 16/1

Andrew Scott - 16/1

Richard Madden - 16/1