It may be Christmas Day, but I'm still on my soapbox

As it was

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm already stuffed to (and beyond) the gunnels with fabulous food, especially pigs-in-blankets.

And I'm heavily merry with festive ASDA wine too. 

In fact, I'm undoubtedly far, far, far too merry with wine in that I could have sworn I've just seen my entire family turn into giant pink mice and Doctor Who into a woman. 

*******

Oh.

So the new Doctor Who really is a woman. 

About time! 

As I was only just this minute saying (on Twitter) to Laura Bates of Everyday Sexism and Jane Garvey of Radio 4's Woman's Hour, isn't it fabulous that a really good-looking young woman is the new Doctor Who? The BBC is listening to us!

I also tweeted that only Brexit-supporting misogynists could find fault with that, or even make an issue of it. (I thought they'd appreciate that. Especially Laura.)

The new female Doctor Who....

Hopefully the BBC will relentlessly continue the fight against institutional sexism, say by replacing David Dimbleby on Question Time with Ellie Harrison from Countryfile.

(Oh please, please let that happen!)

*******

I actually even saw that rarest of things today - an elderly female presenter on the BBC.

And she was truly excellent.

In fact, to be honest, she was by far the best BBC presenter I've seen all year.

Yes, HM the Queen was on BBC One and BBC Two this afternoon, delivering her annual Christmas speech.

Except for the even-more-regal Mary Berry, HM the Queen is possibly the first elderly female presenter to appear on BBC One since the infamous cull of those wellington-boot-wearing old bags on Countryfile and their replacement by fit young blondes and brunettes.

That's more progress!

I do hope that Miriam O'Reilly was watching. (Go Miriam!)

Queen Elizabeth II (no less)

*******

One step forward, two steps back though. 

Institutional sexism at the BBC, pace Samira Ahmed, remains rife. 

Firstly, as we know, far too many top female reporters and presenters at the BBC haven't been allowed to share in the massively over-inflated salaries of some of their male counterparts and, quite rightly, won't rest until they've become just as obscenely overpaid (at the licence-fee-payer's expense) as their non-privilege-checking male colleagues. 

Secondly (and far worse), on tonight's Doctor Who Christmas special the new female Doctor Who was immediately - quite literally within seconds! - shown losing control of the TARDIS.

Her driving was so awful that the larger-on-the-inside-than-on-the-outside time machine immediately careered off the space-time line and the helpless new Doctor found herself getting sucked out into time-space.

I haven't seen such dreadful driving since the once-famous Maureen on Driving School.

....takes over the driving. And this is what happens next. The Scream!

To me this is clear evidence of deeply ingrained sexist thinking at the BBC.

As we all know, women are wonderful drivers and such disgusting patriarchal thinking about their allegedly poor driving abilities only encourages misogynists to make stupid, flippant, deeply sexist jokes about so-called 'women drivers'.

I was absolutely appalled.

And offended.

And on Christmas Day too.