‘Doctor Who’ Makes History With Time Lord’s First Romantic Same-Sex Kiss In 60-Year History

Caroline Frost
·2 min read
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Doctor Who made history Saturday evening, with the Time Lord having his first ever explicitly romantic same-sex kiss on screen.

The episode, set in the British Regency period of 1813, saw Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor team up with bounty hunter Rogue, played by Jonathan Groff. The characters were initially mistrusting of each other, but had to team up to fight the shape-shifting Chuldurs.

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(SPOILER ALERT!)

Mischievously flirting throughout the episode, shocking the other guests at the Regency ball with same-sex dancing, their united effort finally saw Rogue sacrifice himself to save the world, but not before he had given the Doctor a goodbye kiss.

John Barrowman’s Captain Jack briefly kissed Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor in a 2005 episode, but that encounter lacked the sexual charge of the Time Lord’s encounter with Rogue. And Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor had an implied romantic connection with her female companion Yaz (played by Mandip Gil) but their feelings were left implicit with the odd yearning glance.

There have been same-sex kisses between different supporting characters in the series, but this new episode marks the first time The Doctor has been portrayed as being sexually interested in someone of the same gender, and acting on it.

The Daily Mail reports that fans delighted in what some called “the electric chemistry” between Dr Who star Ncuti Gatwa, and Jonathan Groff who plays bounty hunter Rogue.

Gatwa is the first actor in the role to identify as queer, and the first black actor to play the Time Lord for a full series, since the series was first broadcast by the BBC in 1963.

Editors note: This article has been updated to clarify that the kiss in the latest episode was the first ever explicitly romantic same-sex kiss on screen. There had been same-sex kisses before on Doctor Who.

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