Doctor Who returned over the weekend.

As always, the programme provided audiences with laughs, cries, and the unwavering belief that yeah, regular old phone boxes can take you wherever you want to go. This time though, the show presented something a little different - a female Doctor. And she was, as expected, brilliant, Unlike the odd TV show, film, or franchise that jumps on the people want to see women on screen so we better give them what they want and gain some brownie points for ourselves in the meantime without actually contributing anything new or exciting to people's lives bandwagon, it made sense for Doctor Who to introduce a female lead. A lot of sense actually, seeing as the Doctor is a Time Lord and therefore not bound by the restrictions of gender... and also just because since the show kicked off for the first time back in 1963, they'd never had one. Now they do though, and people are very much into it. Following the series's return over the weekend, thousands took to Twitter to say just how much they'd enjoyed the launch, how new the show felt, and how seemingly effortlessly Jodie Whittaker had taken on one of the most iconic roles in television. 8.2 million people tuned in to the BBC on Sunday night to watch Whittaker's debut with 378,000 of these being girls under the age of 16. Compare this to the 8 million who tuned in for David Tennant's first episode back in 2006, the 7.7 million who watched Matt Smith's first go at the Time Lord, and the 6.8 million who tuned in for Peter Capaldi's launch back in 2014. The ratings give a fairly good idea as to just how willing people are to watch their favourite show newly led by a woman, but also how much they want to. Sunday night's viewer demographic also showed that for the first time in the show's history, more girls than boys had tuned in for the launch. Figures shared online detailed that 235,000 more girls under the age of 16 tuned in to see Whittaker take on the role than did to watch Capaldi during the show's series opener last year. It's all been going down quite well, really. Well, most of it. There wouldn't be a Strong Female Lead without somebody criticising her, and in this case, these somebody's were a load of lads who just couldn't accept the fact that an intelligent, mildly hilarious, and bumbling alien was now a woman. They even started a hashtag called '#NotMyDoctor' and said they were boycotting the show. Shame. According to these lads, the BBC were going to realise what a "mistake" they had made once the "debacle and attempt at social justice" lost its interest. They argued that writers should come up with a new show with a female lead just for women and leave the Doctor out of it.  They questioned how many men-based insults there were in the opening episode, whether the doctor now held a vibrator, and if she managed to conquer all "with the power of her vagine."  Yeah really, they did use the word "vagine." You've too much time on your hands, lads. If you don't like it, just go watch something else. You won't affect the ratings.