I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’ve come up with a way that explained everything.
It would start with a simple premise: Time Lords cannot change gender.
Back in the tom baker era there was a moment where Romana regenerated that brought up the concept that female time lords could choose their regenerated form, but men could not. This plus the fact the Doctor when though an entire regeneration cycle, and the master went through about two of them, without hitting a female form (which statistically is extremely unlikely). Says to me that gender swaps ain’t part of the regeneration cycle.
Now, because of this I’d open the first episode back in a cell containing several men. a woman walks up to the door and asks: “Doctor?” A man would rush up to the window of the door grab the bars and say: “Yes?” boom new doctor revealed. Cut to titles.
The plot of the season would be the discovery that these male to female regenerations are a trick. A group of rouge time lords lead by The Rani are hi-jacking regeneration. Using bastardised tech to pulling the male time lord from where they are at the time of regeneration, and replacing them with female timelords, that have perception filter implants to make it seen like they’re the real time lord just gender swapped.
you know how people say Jodie Whitaker doesn’t seem like the doctor? BECAUSE SHE’S NOT! She an imposter pretending to be the doctor. Over the course of the season I would then have the real doctor, helped by his regenerated daughter (the woman who was in the opening). And her mentor, ROMANA, Who have been trying to bring down the rogue faction for years. Reclaim the TARDIS and stop there plans of domination. culminating in a Doctor Vs Doctor battle as it turns out that whitaker herself WAS The Rani, and taking over the doctors life was her personal project during the whole plan, but, would be her eventual downfall.
that is how I’d save Doctor Who.
TheAngryWheelchair 