Doctor Who: 25 time periods Thirteen and Team TARDIS should visit

Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Bronte, painted by their brother Branwell. He originally painted himself between Emily and Charlotte, but later painted himself out. (Photo: Branwell Brontë Public domain)

Early 19th Century Yorkshire, England

It’s true that not every time period the Thirteenth Doctor visits needs to feature a story that somehow ties into the fact that she’s a woman now. But this one might. Particularly because these women were also trailblazers and, as such, are kindred spirits to this Doctor.

Historical figure we might meet: The three Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne – were all writers and ended up publishing works that are still considered classic pieces of literature today. (See also: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.) But each of them had to publish their works under a pseudonym, and basically pretend that a man had written their stories. Given that the Doctor herself used to be a man, one has to guess that she might have an interesting perspective on their lives and experiences.

Potential adventures: Perhaps we might see a story similar to season 5’s “Vincent and the Doctor”, in which the Brontës are allowed to learn how great an impact their work had on the generations that followed them. If we can’t have a story where history is rewritten to allow these women to achieve the personal fame and respect they deserved in their own time period, maybe we can at least get some emotional catharsis through them learning how much it matters to modern women that other women wrote these stories. (Look, I just really love Wuthering Heights, okay?)

Another possibility: rumors flourished at the time of her death that Emily had been working on another novel, which one of her sisters burned when she passed. What if the Doctor – or a companion, perhaps Yaz is a Brontë fan – found it? What do they decide to do with it? And is that right or wrong?