Women in Doctor Who

My main reaction reading that first article was to wonder whether she'd watched the same stories and characters I had.  For instance, there's no way the Doctor was considering settling down with Reinette until he actually got stuck there, and his reaction when he had a choice was to ask her to come with him.  And River as being without any character?  Huh?

Actually, Blink was the only story cited where a female character "settled down" with a man, and I felt that worked very well.  With her friend, that was a bit less convincing, but there was actually no suggestion it happened quickly, just that she eventually married him.  Anyway, what else would she have done, back in the 20s.

With the classic series, it has to be seen in the context of its time, and while some things come over as a bit sexist by 2011 standards, it also challenged the sexism of its time quite a bit.  Even in the 60s, it was portraying powerful women in a way that wasn't found very often on TV, and most of the female companions had their moments - like Vicki bullying the boys into starting their revolution in The Space Museum (I love that scene).