Is Doctor Who a sexist show? Let's put it to the Bechdel Test and find out!

Fans have been accusing Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat of creating sexist characters for some time and study author Rebecca Moore analyzed the show and all of the modern Doctor Who episodes to see if it would pass the Bechdel Test. "The Bechdel Test was developed for films. To pass, a movie must have at least two women in it who talk to each other, about something besides a man." Surprisingly only 12 of Moffatt’s episodes pass the test (up until Season 8).

Looking at the results, Moffatt’s 57% pass rate is significantly lower than Russell T. Davies’ 89% pass rate. Does this mean that the accusations against him are correct? The test then breaks down the show to the female companions where the character of Donna Noble scored the highest. She passed the test in every one of her episodes. Way to go, Donna! Rose Tyler scored 74% but Moore notes, "Fun fact, Rose’s Bechdel test score would have been in the 80′s were it not for the episodes Moffat wrote during her run."

One thing that I am not surprised to see is how bad the character of River Song scored. She passed only 42% of the time. I loved the introduction of River in Season 4 but felt that Moffat later ruined her the more we saw her.

"Ironically, the woman who is often propped up as proof that Steven Moffat is, in fact, not a sexist was one of the worst in terms of the Bechdel test and overall independence of thought and character. While maintaining an average speaking time, the episodes she is in only pass the Bechdel Test 57% of the time, and she herself only passes 42% of the time. She also never passes it on her own after Series 5. It is also important to note that River’s 'passes' barely scraped by this test. Her passing conversations were always around three or four lines of exchange total, limited to one per episode, and were always in the presence of/with the Doctor."

When a show has reached the level of popularity like Doctor Who, and has been around for 50 years, you would think the showrunner would strive for positive messages from its stories and characters. With media being such a large part of people's lives and having their lives shaped from those they look up to, whether they be a fictional character or real, you would think Moffat would want to put a few strong female characters in the show. However, it appears that Steven Moffat is stuck in his ways and may not be changing any time soon. We'll have to wait and see.

I definitely recommend reading the full article in the source link to see Moore's thoughts on the matter. She gives some amazing insight and makes some great points.
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Source: Rebecca A Moore