The next era of Doctor Who finally has a chance to make the series truly LGBTQ+ friendly. First premiering in 1963, Doctor Who has evolved through many different eras as The Doctor has gone through each regeneration, bringing along a diverse crew of companions on their adventures through time and space. The Doctor’s most recent companion, however, could be a massive step forward in terms of LGBTQ+ representation in Doctor Who and media as a whole.
The next era of Doctor Who is bringing along a lot of changes. Showrunner Russell T Davies is returning to the show after leaving in 2010. The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) will be taking her leave from the series, and the Fourteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will be Doctor Who’s first Black Doctor. The Fourteenth Doctor’s companion, an 18-year-old named Rose, is an explicitly trans character portrayed by a trans actress; Heartstopper‘s Yasmin Finney. On top of all of that, David Tennant is set to return after his career-making stint as the Tenth Doctor.
The introduction of a trans character — especially one portrayed by a trans actress — sets up Doctor Who to take a major step in the world of LGBTQ+ representation. At a time when companies like Disney are receiving backlash for their lack of LGBTQ+ representation, Doctor Who has a unique chance to do something important. Specifically casting a trans actress to play the role is yet another milestone in the realm of LGBTQ+ representation. The trans community has openly criticized Hollywood for erasing their experience by repeatedly casting cisgender actors to portray trans characters, excluding the trans community from the industry while profiting off of their stories. By including Rose — and Finney — into the world of mainstream Doctor Who, the series is poised to set a precedent for LGBTQ+ friendly media.
There are innumerable benefits when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation in media. While they’re on the uptick now, LGBTQ+ characters are still a rarity in mainstream media, and LGBTQ+ characters portrayed by actors who are actually in the LGBTQ+ community are even rarer. The visibility of LGBTQ+ characters not only combats negative stereotypes and provides opportunities for education, but allows those in the community to feel seen. Instead of seeing yet another queer character ending up a victim of queer-coded villains or the “bury your gays” trope, Doctor Who is giving a trans character a chance to be the hero. On top of educating those outside of the LGBTQ+ community, these portrayals can help guide audiences in expanding the comprehension of their own identity in a way they may never have received otherwise.
Doctor Who has had LGBTQ+ characters in the past, but they’ve either typically existed on the fringes of the series’ spinoffs or never received the development they deserved. While the relationship between the Thirteenth Doctor and her companion Yaz was a solid step in the right direction, Whittaker’s exit from the series almost guarantees the end of their relationship. Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) was portrayed as an openly LGBTQ+ character, but his sexuality was ultimately the butt of frequent jokes throughout the series. His most substantial relationship — that with Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) — was left to be explored only in the Torchwood spinoff and subsequent audio dramas, and Ianto’s untimely death left the relationship underdeveloped. The audio series Doctor Who: Redacted does feature an LGBTQ-heavy cast led by a trans character played by a trans actress; but now, trans representation will be coming to the main cast of Doctor Who, and the long-running series will be much better for it.
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