A Gay Doctor?
Neil Patrick Harris has come forward to reveal that we’re getting a gay Doctor in the upcoming season of Doctor Who.
Harris recently appeared as a guest on Variety’s Just For Variety podcast. While the star showed up on the podcast to promote his new Netflix series Uncoupled, he also talked about his life, career, and other projects. This includes his work on the upcoming season of Doctor Who.
In the show, Harris will be playing the villain in the 60th anniversary special. Talking briefly about his time on set, NPH shared that he got o meet Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa. Gatwa was cast as the new Doctor earlier this year. If you haven’t watched Netflix’s Sex Education, know that Gatwa is perfect for the part. He is joyful and scene-stealing while also able to carry heavier content. After his casting announcement, many celebs were celebrating the news. That includes Barbie’s Ryan Gosling. And it appears Neil Patrick Harris was also charmed by the actor.
“Ncuti, who’s becoming the new Doctor, I got to meet and interact with him a bit and he’s glorious,” Harris says of Gatwa. “He’ll be the first gay Doctor, which is going to be super cool, a sexier Doctor. And I’m excited.”
Related: Neil Patrick Harris Admits Choosing a D*ck Pic “Is Harder Than You Think”
The Doctor, Ncuti, And Yasmin
Now, let’s pull back for a second. What did Neil Patrick Harris mean by this? The long-running sci fi tv show has never had a gay Doctor? True. The Time Lord at the center of the show has been surrounded by queer characters before – Jack Harkness, River Song, Madame Vestra and Jenny, and more – but has never been gay themselves. So the character being gay in the upcoming season would be big news.
But maybe he meant Ncuti Gatwa himself. While Gatwa plays gay character Eric Effiong on Sex Education, Gatwa himself has not commented publicly on his sexual orientation. But perhaps the actor is simply living without the need to come out. Maybe Harris went with his gut, made an assumption, and made a thoughtless, and now viral, comment.
At the end of the day, this was, in fact, a quick comment by Neil Patrick Harris. It’s not a confirmed or clarified story. We still have room to speculate whether he meant the character or the actor.
That said, the upcoming Doctor Who season WILL have queer representation. First off, Russell T. Davies is returning as showrunner for the series. The Queer as Folk, Banana, and Cucumber creator helmed the first few seasons of the rebooted Doctor Who series. And now that he’s back, there’s room for him to introduce queer representation like he did with Jack Harkness.
Related: The Ryan Gosling & Ncuti Gatwa Bromance Is Giving Us Life!
And, we already know that Davies has some LGBTQ storylines planned. Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney has signed on for the series. Finney is set to play a transgender character named Rose.
When speaking to Attitude Magazine, Finney had this to say about the role and working with Russell T. Davies:
“All I’m going to say is it’s a really heartfelt thing and the character I get to play is like Elle in the sense of she’s finding her feet. But she is younger than Elle. Rose is still finding her feet in terms of her identity. And the storyline is so fluid and beautiful.”
She added, “I remember watching [The Runaway Bride] with Catherine Tate and David Tennant and that was Russell’s most iconic episode to me back in the day. I remember watching it when I was eleven or twelve and thinking I’d love to be a part of that. And here I am, as a queer person as well, so it really speaks volumes for the way the industry is going.”
“Russell is incredible,” the actress continued. “He is like my ‘set Dad’. He makes me feel so welcomed and so warm and he has so many incredible stories and he’s full of life and I genuinely just admire him so much. His career is so inspiring to me and I look up to him.”
Both Yasmin Finney and Ncuti Gatwa will be seen on screens in the latest season of Doctor Who in 2023.
Ncuti has such a cute smile. I was hoping with him joining Dr. Who he would be gay in the show. Looks like he might be gay in real life as well which is great news!