Doctor Who promotes queer tolerance, says show's trans writer
Juno Dawson, a bestselling author known for young adult novels, joined Russell T Davies earlier this year to help script the regenerated series starring Ncuti Gatwa.
The 43-year-old, who is the first openly transgender writer for the popular BBC show, said that a childhood love of Doctor Who and Eurovision 'was my way of saying I was queer before I knew what it was to be queer'.
Writing in this week's Radio Times, Dawson said that it was unsurprising that both the European song contest and the science fiction TV series are 'so beloved by LGBTQ+ people'.
'Both shows occasionally address queer themes – last year's Eurovision winner, Nemo, was the first non-binary performer,' Dawson said. 'But more generally, the DNA of Doctor Who and Eurovision is fairness, tolerance, peace and the triumph of joy over hatred.
'It's not hard to see why queer people feel so seen and so safe in both worlds.'
Gatwa's starring role marked the first time the Doctor has been played by an openly queer actor, as well as a black actor, in the show's 61-year history.
The Sex Education star, 32, came out as queer in Aug 2023 in an interview with Elle magazine when discussing the importance of representation in the media.
He described his role in the hit Netflix series as Eric Effiong, who is one of the few gay students at school, as 'healing' for him.
'Shout out to [the screenwriter] Laurie Nunn for giving nuance to this gay, black character and gifting him to the world,' Gatwa said. 'He's so fierce and unashamed. It was healing for me, and great for people to see themselves represented.
'It taught me the importance of representation: it's so powerful and necessary.'
He has been playing The Doctor since the 2023 Christmas special and since last month, the two lead parts have been portrayed by minority ethnic actors for the first time.
Previously, Davies – the head writer for Doctor Who – has criticised 'toxic' people who claim the show is too woke.
The Welsh screenwriter and television producer, 62, said he had no time for complaints about the show's 'diversity and wokeness'.
In May last year, Gatwa said he felt 'sad' for critics of the show's diversity.
'For me, personally, I find it fascinating that it matters so much to these people,' he said.
In recent episodes a transgender character referred to the Doctor as 'male-presenting' and a drag queen made the point of using 'them' as a personal pronoun.
Dawson, who also co-hosted The Official Doctor Who Podcast and penned the series' spin-off podcast, said that Eurovision had inspired the show's content in the form of an 'Interstellar Song Contest'.
The author explained: 'There might not be an obvious link between the Eurovision Song Contest and Doctor Who, but I think they're cousins – if not sisters… But more than that, fans of Doctor Who and Eurovision can sometimes feel like outsiders, and that becomes part of someone's identity.
'When I was asked to write this episode, I was determined that my Interstellar Song Contest wouldn't make fun of Eurovision by having aliens dance around in tin foil dresses,' Dawson added.
'Why would the show devolve in the far future? If anything, I thought it would continue to become even grander.'
Explaining that the episode is not 'all camp and glitter', Dawson added: 'I wanted to tell a human story… because that's how you win Eurovision.'
The season two finale is set to premiere simultaneously on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on May 31.
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Spectator
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