The Doctor Who brand has been especially LGBTQ-friendly throughout the last few decades. Now, however, queer actor Ncuti Gatwa is playing The Doctor – a first for the character. Now, with queer writer Russell T Davies in charge of the show’s newest iteration, Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor has just had a same-sex kiss with gay actor Jonathan Groff’s new Doctor Who character.
Jonathan Groff is playing Rogue in the new series, a character who is revealed to be a bounty hunter. He arrives in the latest episode to bring in a batch of alien shapeshifters, and ultimately, he believes that Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor is one of them.
The two ultimately work together to stop the shapeshifters, and during the final act, Rogue decides to sacrifice himself. However, he romantically kisses the Doctor before doing so, having previously mentioned he had a male romantic partner in the past.
Many viewers were surprised by the scene, and quickly took to social media to share their thoughts. You can see the clip of the same-sex Doctor Who clip below in addition to some of the responses from viewers and fans:
Episode six of series “Doctor Who made history” on Saturday night aired its first ever same-sex kiss. pic.twitter.com/Uw1LNnajqc
— Elijah (@Elijahwasike) June 9, 2024
I think I’m not a fan of the kiss in Doctor Who for plot reasons.
In my opinion, it would have had more impact if the Doctor was able to find Rouge, and in that moment of happiness, one of them runs up and full blown kiss the other.
That’s just me. Feels rushed is all.
— Morantics (@Mor_Antics) June 10, 2024
Just finished watching the latest episode of Doctor Who with my 8 yr old & he was concerned about the Doctor kissing Rogue (a male character). Not because it was a man, but because “they’ve just met, you don’t kiss someone you’ve just met”… He didn’t think it was realistic 🤣
— Socialist Woker (@SocialistWoker) June 10, 2024
life is good when your friend will freak out over the doctor who kiss with you
— adam 🍉 (@adstarss) June 10, 2024
THE DOCTOR KISSED A GUY #DoctorWho
— leti⁷ (@raplinegold) June 10, 2024
While there have been same-sex kisses in the show in the past, and even some involving the Doctor, this is the first truly romantic same-sex kiss for the Doctor. And, with the character being portrayed by a queer actor at this point in time, it certainly suggests a major turning point for the long-running sci-fi series.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates on the Doctor Who franchise as we have them. For now, this is an interesting step forward for the newest iteration of the classic series and we’ll have to see where Ncuti Gatwa takes the character next along with writer Russell T Davies behind the story for this brand-new expansion of the franchise.