When news broke that Jodie Whittaker would become the first female Doctor on Doctor Who, most fans rejoiced, hailing the move as an important step for female role models. 

However, not everyone was happy about the casting with some struggling to imagine a woman  in a role previously reserved for white, male actors.

Most notably, former Doctor, Peter Davison, who played the fifth Doctor in the early 1980s, has been speaking openly on his reservations about the casting decision.

According to The Guardian, while at Comic-Con this weekend, Peter said:

 “If I feel any doubts, it’s the loss of a role model for boys, who I think Doctor Who is vitally important for. So I feel a bit sad about that, but I understand the argument that you need to open it up.”

“As a viewer, I kind of like the idea of the Doctor as a boy but then maybe I’m an old-fashioned dinosaur — who knows?”

He then went onto praise Jodie who is a “terrific actress” and likely to do a “wonderful job.”

However, his previous comments did not go unnoticed and another former Doctor, Colin Baker, was not too impressed.

“They’ve had 50 years of having a role model. So, sorry Peter, you’re talking rubbish there — absolute rubbish,” he said to The Guardian.

“You don’t have to be of a gender of someone to be a role model. Can’t you be a role model as people?”

Peter later took to Twitter to defend his comments saying that he "urged uncertain fans to be supportive about change." 

For the record I didn't say I had doubts about Jodie. I said "she's a terrific actress and will do a wonderful job and we need to open it..

— Peter Davison (@PeterDavison5) July 24, 2017

..up". I also urged uncertain fans to be supportive about change. It was a caveat about role models in an otherwise positive answer..

— Peter Davison (@PeterDavison5) July 24, 2017

All this toxicity about a sci-fi show has been sobering, so I'm calling it a day. @PeterDavison5 used to be fun. Now it's not. Must Dash. xx

— Peter Davison (@PeterDavison5) July 24, 2017