Whoopi Goldberg Was Rejected As The First Female Doctor Who

Doctor Who fans might be loving Jodie Whittaker's new Time Lord but little do they now that Sister Act and Lion King star Whoopi Goldberg once petitioned to become BBC's first female Doctor.

Goldberg recently spoke with Doctor Who alum David Tennant on his new podcast, The View. During the interview with the fan-favorite Time Lord, Goldberg revealed that her pitch to become a New York-based female version of the Doctor was turned down by BBC's bigwigs.

"I wanted to be the first female Doctor … the American version of Doctor Who ends up in New York and it's me", the actress said in her discussion with Tennant. "The idea of that so made me happy. But they were like ‘Um no.' I was like, ‘OK, I'm cool. I ­understand.'"

We're not quite sure why Goldberg was turned down, but the actress would have probably been an interesting choice for the role – though not necessarily a conventional choice. Doctor Who's different iterations of the Time Lord have had a certain kind of temperament. Sure, there might be a little tweaks every now and then (Christopher Eccleston's version of the Doctor was much fiercer than other iterations) but characteristics like whimsy and passion for learning keep the different Doctors together.

Of course, BBC might reconsider their decision about Goldberg as a Doctor now that Whittaker is Doctor Who's new Time Lord. The network might want another female Doctor after Whittaker's run. Or they could cast Goldberg as one of the Doctor's many time-hopping, space-traveling buddies. Who knows.

Read: David Tennant Confirms Podcast Show With Jodie Whittaker, Krysten Ritter, Michael Sheen