Doctor Who made headlines in its latest season for kiss shared by Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor and Jonathan Groff as Rogue. While it wasn’t the first same-sex kiss between The Doctor and another character, it makes the kiss between John Barrowman’s Jack Harkness and Christopher Eccleston’s iteration of The Doctor look like a peck on the cheek. While the sexuality of The Doctor has been a question from audiences for a long time, the kiss has added a small amount of confirmation to various theories. But the episode only came about because showrunner Russell T. Davies felt like he needed to apologize for something else.

The full story goes back to another TV series about a character whose appearance is subject to change, who has a somewhat fluid gender, and who fans have known for a long time must be some flavor of bi/pan+. When Kate Herron came on as showrunner for the MCU TV show Loki, she knew she wanted to highlight Loki’s bisexuality. The reveal came in Loki season 1, episode 3 in a brief acknowledgment as part of a larger conversation. While it was a big step forward for the franchise that had avoided acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ+ identities for so long, it was also criticized for not going far enough or for simply paying lip service.

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Ncuti Gatwa reveals why Russell T Davies gave him a telling-off on ‘Doctor Who’ set

One of those to criticize Loki’s coming out was the once and future Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T. Davies. Speaking on a panel at Swansea University back in 2021, Davies called Loki’s LGBTQ+ content “a ridiculous, craven, feeble gesture towards the vital politics and the stories that should be told.” Shortly afterwards, remorse at his harsh words set in. Although, it’s unclear whether he felt he was too harsh or was just embarrassed that people noticed he’d said it:

“I accidentally criticized Loki in what I didn’t realize was an interview! I thought it was one of those online sessions talking to students. And of course, when any showrunner criticizes any other show, it suddenly becomes a headline.”

Either way, the result was that RTD then called Kate Herron to apologize for his comments. That conversation became a long chat and Davies ended up offering Kate Herron the chance to write an episode of the upcoming season of Doctor Who. That episode was “Rogue,” and we can speculate that the kiss between Groff and Gatwa’s characters served to make matters right for both Herron and RTD. Herron has said that she hoped Loki’s portrayal of LGBTQ+ identities would help to open doors for future stories. With the BBC laughing off complaints about the Doctor Who kiss, perhaps she helped to do just that.

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Ncuti Gatwa reveals why Russell T Davies gave him a telling-off on ‘Doctor Who’ set

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