Nobody could stop Russell T. Davies from making Doctor Who queer: “We’re not delivering a neutered Doctor”
Russell T. Davies and Ncuti Gatwa discuss Doctor Who's new (queer) horizons in a new profile
Aux News Doctor Who
Doctor Who made headlines casting Ncuti Gatwa as the latest Doctor, not only because he’s the first Black actor to play the role but because he would be, in the words of Neil Patrick Harris, “the first gay Doctor.” (Sorry to the doomed romance of 14 and Yaz, and any headcanons you might have floating around.) Although if you ask once-and-future showrunner Russell T. Davies, the Doctors “weren’t exactly the straightest men in the past.”
Gatwa’s Christmas special already injected some fun queer undertones, including an introductory dance at a club wearing a kilt. “You’re talking about someone who does have a lightness and a joy about him that, to me, chimes with queer energy,” Davies says of Gatwa in a new Variety profile. “It’s very rarely driving the story vehemently, but you will see moments exploring it. We’re not delivering a neutered Doctor.” (Case in point: the Doctor’s reference to a “long, hot summer with Harry Houdini.”)
Nevertheless, one might expect moving over to the family-friendly platform Disney+ might dampen some of the queerness or queer themes. Instead, Davies’ 60th anniversary specials put a trans character (Rose, played by Yasmin Finney) and her experience front and center. “It’s very hard for anyone to stop me doing these things,” Davies, who created Queer As Folk and It’s A Sin, proclaims. “You’d have to be a pretty brave executive to say, ‘Don’t go there’ to me. I’m sure there are people thinking that, but I wouldn’t work with them, would I?”
Gatwa feels his casting “makes perfect sense” within the context of Doctor Who. “I feel like anyone that has a problem with someone who’s not a straight white man playing this character, you’re not really, truly a fan of the show,” the Barbie star says. “You’ve not been watching! Because the show is about regeneration, and the Doctor is an alien—why would they only choose to be this sort of person?”
If anyone does have a problem with a queer, Black Doctor, “Don’t watch. Turn off the TV,” Gatwa says. “Go and touch grass, please, for God’s sake.”
89 Comments
We’re not delivering a neutered Doctor
*throws my script labeled “bold new Dr. Who direction” against wall*COWARDS!
On that topic, I think we’ve all wondered what else the Doctor has two of.
Making an established character LGBTQ+ is not transgressive in 2024, it’s just free criticism proof marketing
well, not totally criticism-proof apparently
I give it 5 minutes before someone calls me a Nazi. You, lorem ipsum, have called me a Nazi in the past for making similar statements. Honest online discourse is rarer than a unicorn with hen’s teeth.
You sound more like a dickhead than a Nazi. I doubt you’d disagree, either.
Please, prove my point more by resorting to cheap insults. Many thanks. Oh, and for the record, 7 minutes… not too far off.
Don’t know if you’re a Nazi but you definitely seem to have a massive victim complex. Also, I strongly suspect that everyone who doesn’t agree with your point of view is incapable of “honest online discourse” in your eyes.
You assume what you want to believe.
What you are is desperate and boring. Stop presenting.
My bad. Meaningless grandstanding online is acceptable for marginalized individuals only. Understood.
Do you have human acquaintances in the real world, and do you talk to them in this tortured way, possibly while red-faced and hyperventilating and attempting to convince them that um actually you are incredibly calm and well-adjusted and THEY are incredibly angry and offended?
No. But then again, I’m not the one calling people derogatory terms either, so…
You seem to have thin skin and a memory disorder. You are transcendentally pointless, so what would it matter exactly what failures of plausible deniability you have or have not said this time in your quest to be a vague annoyance to people somewhere on the internet?
“Please, prove my point more”Ah yes, your “point”, which was that you said something purposefully inflammatory in an effort to get people to disagree with you.Well done?
Oh c’mon. You’re really going to lack the self-awareness to deny being more of a dickhead than a Nazi? Please link to any evidence of you not being a dickhead on the internet.
How can I be a dickhead if none of you are capable of engaging in a discussion about my OG topic? I don’t see a single word refuting my claims. Just strangers on the internet calling people names. That sounds like something a dickhead would do. In any event, I identify as a clitoral hood, so stop dead-naming me, Nazi.
I thought your point was that you would be called a Nazi.You were actually called a dickhead.If you want honest online discourse, maybe don’t screech about being called a Nazi when no one has yet called you a Nazi.
You deserve worse
You should try ChatGP to help you come up with better material.
“Someone called me a Nazi in the comments”“In the comments?”“In the comments!”“Were you being a Nazi?”“Yeah”“In the comments?”“Yeah, in the comments”
I was most definitely not being a Nazi. I didn’t say a single disparaging word about LGBTQ+. I simply stated that it’s not that unique in 2024 to make an established character LGBTQ+. You literally proved my point.
Sorry, but no. I wasn’t referring to this discussion (although the immediate whining about LGBTQ rep is something worth revisiting); I was referring in fact to your claim that you have been called a Nazi previously. And in spite of all the memes and whining to the contrary, when someone is called a Nazi its at least usually because they’re doing something to warrant it. At the very least I’m sure you weren’t being called a Nazi over your positions on tax policy.And no, you didn’t just claim that making a character LGBTQ IN 2024 isn’t “unique”, you specifically said it’s “free criticism proof marketing”. Feel free to check out your own post, it’s right up there at the top; I’ll wait.Alright, now that we’re clear on what you actually said, I suppose my question would be: What exact criticisms of lgbtq characters would you like to make that you’re supposedly not allowed to..?
The very idea of criticizing intention behind most DEI decisions (from a Capitalist vs. Altruistic perspective) and of click-bait articles like this one cashing in on the divisiveness of said topics are met with a resounding wall of insults rather than engagement at every single level. Focusing on the specific word, “Nazi”, is besides the point. If you dare bring up how unethically people pander to us in order to circumvent admitting a shit product is shit and you get demonized, point blank. The ethics of ethical posturing, myself included. This is also, by the way, the only reason anybody is talking about Doctor Who in 2024, whatever that’s worth.
changing the sexuality or race of a character will always draw criticism regardless of quality. I do not think you are a nazi but screaming about DEI ESG scores “wokeness” makes you a reactionary and a boring one at that thousands of people say the exact same thing as you every day its boring. Its so easy to criticize gender/race/sexuality swapping because then you can say “just make a new character” when you would be just as negative toward a new poc or lgbt character.
tbf in this thread and previous threads he’s always the one to bring up the word and then others adopt it when they realize that’s the perfect term for his behavior. it’s more that he called himself one and we all agreed
You could not be a bigger hypocrite. I only bring up the insults because it is so often the only form of conversation on this platform and we both know it. Pointing it out before it happens, (because it always happens), is my form of showing the disingenuousness of people who refuse to dispute what they secretly know is true. Why are the people who are the loudest about supposedly standing up for absolute equality almost always the first ones to turn to insults when their ideals are challenged even slightly? Tell me why I should believe in the morality of people who are so obviously immoral?See, you won’t engage with the content of this comment or any of my comments because it’s easier to “win” with condescension rather than intellect. I mean, I’m not surprised. When you get all of your talking points from social media and copy/paste blogs like this one it can’t be helped.
You are a coward.
My “I am not a nazi” shirt is raising a ton of comments just proving my point.
These days, if you call someone a Nazi, they arrest you and throw you in jail.
Incorrect. “I so DESPERATELY WANT someone to call me a Nazi in the comments that I’m foaming and seething from both ends.”
Nah, you’re just an asshole.
That is probably the case, but your comment is just further proof that my original point stands.
That is probably the case, but your comment is just further proof that my original point stands.
Nazi!Sorry for the delay, I was at work.
Foul! Pre-emptive strawmanning, yellow card.
Aw you’re not a Nazi. You just suck Nazi dick.
I dunno, seems like kind of a shame to waste all that Ubermensch splooge, no?
It’s not necessarily “making” the Doctor anything, the idea has always been out there and the ambiguity of the show on the subject lets people imagine quite a bit. Still, several moments of the new series established that the Doctor does, on occasion… dance, and is a bit flexible when it comes to partners.
Is Davies claiming that he’s being transgressive here? I don’t think he, or Gatwa, has said that. It could just be that they find queerness an interesting direction for a character who’s entire thing is change and reinvention. I also don’t think one of the longest running sci-fi shows of all time, that is also a beloved cultural institution and now backed by Disney money, needs to worry about marketing.
Doctor Who is an alien.
Wow, they made the Doctor gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, AND MORE? I’d say that’s quite a feat!
It isn’t criticism proof at all.
Cry harder about it bitch
The ground work for this was set two decades ago with Captain Jack. Think of how beloved that character is and how Captain Jack would bed anyone and anything that he thought worth the effort. It seems only natural that the Doctor eventually fits in that mold as well. The show is better for more diversity and representation. Do you think that all species in the universe and across pace and time are straight, white and male?
I think the bigger jump was The Doctor having any kind of human-compatible sexuality at all. Once that was broached in a big way with 10 and 11, having 14 and 15 lean queer should be inconsequential.
Star Trek was busy normalizing humans having sex with hot aliens decades ago, so I don’t know why there would necessarily be a problem with The Doctor having a human compatibility issue. Humans basically want to fuck anything with holes, and it’s got to be a real self confidence boost being around that for hundreds of years.
HA! Star Trek didn’t do a damn thing for Lesbians or Gays! 300 years into the future and even sex with aliens was gendered. There was NEVER any concept of aliens themselves having anything to do with same sexness. NO science fiction has ever really addressed the idea of “humans just wanna fuk any hole” unless it was a re-do, update or retrofit. It’s always been about male nerds finding a way to get laid with girls and three boobs.
Did you somehow read a post that I didn’t write and accidentally reply to mine?
Should be, but again: Aliens are fictional (and well known for their love of Earth Vixens), but gays and women are real, which these people don’t like.
Aliens are fictional (and well known for their love of Earth Vixens)We don’t need to bring Mac, Wiplock, and Zeebo into this.
Even in the classic run a lot of non-straight viewers- including Davies- saw a kind of identification in the Doctor, because he wasn’t shown as being straight necessarily. Of course in that time suggesting any kind of alternate sexuality either would have been beyond the pale, but it created a kind of ambiguity that fandom has latched on to. So I think the seeds were always there, it just took a climate that was more willing to talk about such things.
I mean, in ‘The End of the World’ The Doctor was very openly and steamily flirting with a tree person. I personally like the idea that the Doctor is open to attraction to literally any sentient being so long as its consensual.
“one might expect moving over to the family-friendly platform Disney+
might dampen some of the queerness or queer themes… Davies, who
created Queer As Folk and It’s A Sin”
It baffles me that I see so many jerkoffs in comment sections saying “Doctor Who went Woke because DISNEY!” Wait – what? Because, you know, Disney is known for putting out SO MUCH bold and daring queer content? And Russel T Davies never ever touched on queer topics before last year? Like, the argument makes no sense at all!
Disney literally has a quota system in place for characters having to be black or gay or whatever.
LMAO fat and bald
The people making those arguments don’t have a working relationship with making sense.
Like, the argument makes no sense at all!You can cut and paste that for any argument made by anybody who uses the word “woke” in a pejorative sense.
And you can cut and paste the word “queer” to mean any damn thing too! I fukn hate it! The Doctor is GAY!!! GAY GAY GAY. Not queer, not LGTBQIA+He’s GAY!
Um actually, to be fair. He is bi sexual.
Through all of RTD’s first run on the show the concept of a “Gay Agenda” was brought up so much by certain critics that it became a running joke. He may as well lean into it as much as possible.
Oh, there’s a simple explanation for that: these people are morons.
If anything, DW went the opposite way under Disney. Sure, it features some more diversity, but goddamn, did they dumb things down. I get that DW is marketed as a kids show, but clearly Disney’s idea of that is a lot more infantilizing than what DW used to be under just the BBC.
I have no issue with this re: queerness. However, I’ve always seen the Doctor as aggressively non-sexual. There was definitely romance, but never sexuality, per se. Jack Harkness was the sexual one, but the Doctor always struck me as a romantic without any of the sexual overtones. Maybe that’s just me though.
So banging Queen Liz, the Space She-Pope, the Real She-Pope, and possibly Houdini was just a way to spend a weekend?
Honestly, I’ve always preferred this take as well. But then I also prefer the low-budget tangibility of the models made of washing up liquid bottles and bubble wrap from the old show as well, so I might not be the best judge of these things.
The Asexual community has long embraced the Doctor as being Ace and we’re part of the Queer community so it fits.
“Because the show is about regeneration, and the Doctor is an alien—why would they only choose to be this sort of person”
“But why are they always British?”“Because shut the fuck up, that’s why…”
Lots of planets have a north.
I think they toyed with an explanation once that the Doctor kind of imprints on the locality where he regenerates and kept doing that in the UK, but I think there were enough contradictions to that happening for it to be scrapped.
Scottish twice in recent memory (yes I’m including Tenant) which is not British I guess, although it is.
SOOOOOOOOO BRAVE.There’s nothing more brave and important to be constantly injecting retarded social issues into your boring, played out narrative. And all the content being produced through this lens is so good and so watchable.
ANGRY FAT AND BALD IS ANGRY GRRRRT
Nah, not true. Hope that helps!
Women don’t want you. Men don’t want you. A dog won’t even piss on your foot.
Nah that’s not true. Hope that helps.
I loved RTD’s first run and while there were missteps (farting aliens, anyone?) what era of Who hasn’t had those? It was an exceptionally well done 21st Century update of an iconic piece of television and its strength set a tone that’s allowed the show to continue on for twenty years (and who knows how much longer after that?) after that re-introduction.That said, the one thing I truly hated about that first run was the schmoopy Dawson’s Creek-level teen angst romance nonsense. And I say that as someone who generally enjoys schmoopy Dawson’s Creek-level teen angst romance nonsense! It just felt weird and forced.I didn’t mind the Doctor being flirty, mind, whether it was with a tree person, Captain Jack, or whoever. That can be fun, and it was, especially with the latter.
The Doctor becoming a giant mope because his 20 year old girlfriend left was one of the worst developments in that era. Making 11 baffled and offput by Amy’s advances (and human sexuality in general) was a much needed corrective
Honestly, that angle was — and I’m aware this is a loaded comparison — straight out of Twilight. The Doctor getting romantic with his companions? Eh, not my favourite development. I’m a bit of a no-romo when it comes to Doctor Who regardless of sexual preferences, but the kids seem to like it so I can live with it I guess. The Doctor, a 900+ near-immortal time-travelling alien, acting like a lovesick teenager? Over Rose Tyler of all people? Nah, that development can suck it.
I just find it funny that fans thought Davies’ 2nd go would be less woke. It just shows how little they understand the show.
Davies’ second go at ‘Doctor Who’:
“fans”Nope!
I’m very excited to see Gatwa’s take on the Doctor. Particularly I want to see him get angry. A good Doctor needs to be able to rage convincingly. Nine was great at it, Ten got better as he went along. I honestly never bought it coming from Eleven, which is one of the reasons I disliked the Matt Smith era. Twelve had good rage, though it was never far from his usual attitude. Thirteen didn’t get too many opportunities to show it off, but she managed it a couple of times. Let’s see Fifteen bring it on.
I think Eleven did cross instead of rage, but I think it fits correctly with his personality. Nine always seemed to be simmering with rage underneath, and Ten basically went mad, so it makes sense that Smith’s incarnation would wind that bit of himself way back. The two moments that jump out in my memory are “The Beast Below”, where he almost turns the car around on Amy because of what she did, and then later on “A Good Man Goes to War” when he sort of references the fact that he’s keeping an extremely tight lid on his anger while shit talking Madame Kovarian. I think they were both pretty well done, though for my money there’s no better rant than Twelve unleashing his whole trauma on Kate and the Zygon in “The Zygon Inversion”
Imagine having a Gay character for 50 years and someone who is Just a writer for the show changes it so that he’s always been straight. People wouldn’t like that equally, would they? Exactly! Because when you change the entire character and the entire show to be something that it never was; you’ve only made a new show and destroyed the previous masterpiece. This is why fans are upset. Not because the actor is black and gay. Nobody cares about that. He didn’t even regenerate. He duplicated. This new show may be called Doctor Who but it isn’t the same show that we’ve had for over 50 years. The Show is truly dead now and started dying during Chibnal’s era.
Shouldn’t have to go meta to justify your bigotry. Just say you hate fags and be done with it.“I feel like anyone that has a problem with someone who’s not a straight white man playing this character, you’re not really, truly a fan of the show,” the Barbiestar says. “You’ve not been watching! Because the show is about regeneration, and the Doctor is an alien—why would they only choose to be this sort of person?”
oh no people who wouldn’t watch the show even if the Doctor walked around with a big titted pornstar impaled on his huge boner are still not going to watch.
I am so happy to see Gatwa and Davies just bowling over regressives as they flail and whine about a show they’ve never watched.
Ah, the ol’ Kelly Sue Deconnick defense. Bold move Cotton, we’ll see how that works out for them.