“I think the problem with this whole argument is everybody says: ‘a woman’. … You don’t ever cast ‘a man’ as the Doctor. You cast a particular man. One day, I am reasonably confident, somebody in this role, whether it is me or someone else, will say not: “Let’s cast ‘a woman’ “, they’ll say: “That person! That’s the one that could be the Doctor.” And that’s what we did. I think most … the vast majority of men will be terrible at playing the Doctor. There are only a few who would be great at it. So you are not casting ‘a man’. You are not casting a gender. You’re not casting anything. You are just casting someone that you think, will set that role on fire. And I think for now that is Peter. I thought it was Matt before. I think someday you’re gonna say *points* … ‘her’. That should be the Doctor. But it’s not about the gender thing. It is about the person who can inhabit that role. The only reason you can have, to cast someone in a role … full stop … the only reason is because you think they will be brilliant. There can’t be any other player on the board. That’s all there can be.”— Steven Moffat on: “Why isn’t the Doctor a woman this time?” (x)
Some stupid things come out of Moffat’s mouth, but in this, he makes perfect sense.