According to British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror, Peter Purves, a former Doctor Who companion, is “horrified” by the idea of a female Time Lord.

Now, we don’t think there’s going to be a woman in charge of the Tardis after this regeneration.

Not only has Phoebe Waller-Bridge ruled herself out, Olivia Colman is too busy being in everything else… and film star Tilda Swinton? Hardly.

Still, it’s nice to think that the Doctor could be a lady in the future.

Purves, a companion in the mid-1960s to William Hartnell and, famously, also a Blue Peter co-host, begs to differ.

He tells us: “That’s not a misogynistic view. It’s just that I don’t think it’s right.”

He adds: “I like Miranda Hart and Sue Perkins in what they do but I don’t see them as Doctor Who – I’d be horrified.

“A bit like James Bond, Doctor Who ought to be a man.”

When it comes to which man, he doesn’t mind.

“I have no preference but Peter Capaldi was a wonderful choice – he’s a super actor and his final episode was extraordinarily interesting.”

Purves, now 78, admits that he (along with millions of others) sometimes struggles to keep up with the plots but still goes to conventions for the sci-fi hit, attending four in the US over the past six months.

The regeneration hap­­pens at Christmas, so it won’t be long before we find out who’s Who.