The BBC gave no time to bigoted, homophobic ‘Doctor Who’ backlash

Reportedly, the BBC is hitting command + delete on viewer complaints directed toward recent Doctor Who episode “Rogue,” which featured our new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, and guest star Jonathan Groff as Rogue.

And to that, we offer our applause.

The BBC doesn’t have the most stellar history concerning representation of marginalized groups, but the acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community’s representation on the classic network has grown exponentially. Still, some LGBTQIA+ issues are still handled poorly, such as trans rights, Pronoun usage, and gender-affirming care.

But a kiss between two men? Oh, that they’ll allow. A report from Deadline says the network received complaints from viewers that the episode was “unsuitable for children,” among other things, along with one person who tried to disguise their homophobia by claiming the speed with which the relationship developed was the real problem. But the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit dismissed the complaints, stating,

The ECU considered the sexual innuendo to be towards the mildest end of the spectrum and in any case likely to go over the heads of children. The development of the relationship served the needs of a fast-moving plot and was unlikely to strike viewers of any age as a model for interpersonal relationships outside this particular fictional context.

The episode bigoted viewers are up in arms about contains a kiss between the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Rogue (Jonathan Groff). Interestingly, this isn’t the first same-sex kiss in the Doctor Who series, nor the first same-sex kiss the Doctor has participated in—watch Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) kiss The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) in “Parting Of The Ways” (2005) or The Doctor (Matt Smith) kiss Rory (Arthur Darvill) twice in 2012 episodes “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” and “The Power of Three.”

It has also always been apparent in the writing of many Doctor Who episodes the flexibility of gender and sexuality in alien creatures, which seems to have flown under the radar for most homophobic viewers. Now that there’s a romantic kiss between two men—one of them being the show’s main character—and it’s an interracial kiss, apparently, it’s a problem for viewers in the U.K.

It’s worth noting the difference in this kiss being romantic, as the previous same-sex kisses the Doctor participated in were far less romantic and unrequited. When Captain Jack Harkness kisses the Doctor, it isn’t taken seriously; it’s more so presented as a farewell gift to a queer character who has a crush on a the Doctor, who’s currently entwined in a heterosexual will-they-won’t-they with Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). There was no serious prospect for a queer Doctor at that point. The same could also be said about the Doctor kissing Rory. Both characters were/are married to women at that point, making the kiss less real for viewers.

When other kisses on the show have been between mutually queer characters expressing love for one another, they’ve primarily been women or feminine presenting characters. This, as convoluted as it seems, is less of an atrocity to some homophobes as they cannot fathom the reality of two women in a relationship; they don’t take it seriously because, in their mind, without a penis in the mix, there’s no consummation—it isn’t real; it’s invalid.

In that context—ridiculous as it may seem—you can see why they’re suddenly objecting now.

Yet, to our satisfaction, the BBC is yelling “NOT TODAY SATAN” at the ignorant buffoons taking precious time out of their days to complain about the sexuality of a shape-shifting, polyamorous, fictional alien committing war crimes left and right for the sake of humanity. Yeah, it’s really important stuff.