Doctor Who’s RTD Gave The Approval For The Groundbreaking Time Lord Romance

• Writer Kate Herron shares how showrunner Russell T Davies approved the Fifteenth Doctor’s Regency romance with Rogue in Doctor Who season 14.
• Herron and Briony Redman pitched a queer romance for Doctor Who , a major step in LGBTQ+ representation in a franchise known for groundbreaking storylines.
• The Doctor and Rogue’s romance is more than token representation, addressing LGBTQ+ critiques in major franchises and portraying a significant love story.

Writer Kate Herron reveals how showrunner Russell T Davies greenlit the Fifteenth Doctor’s brief Regency romance with bounty hunter Rogue in Doctor Who season 14. The director behind Loki season 1 and Sex Education season 1 united with Briony Redman to write an adventure that saw the Time Lord (Ncuti Gatwa) and companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) encounter a race of shapeshifting aliens at a 19th century ball. While Rogue (Jonathan Groff) and the Doctor were initially at odds, the pair were eventually able to open up to one another and share romantic moments in Doctor Who season 14 episode 6.

Herron and Redman explained how they pitched their idea for the Doctor’s blossoming relationship in the latest episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed. Wanting to feature a queer romance from the beginning, Davies quickly approved of Herron and Redman’s pitch, and the pair set out to create a romantic interest who perfectly contrasted with the Doctor. Check out Herron’s full explanation below:

Out of the gate, I was like, “Well, look, I love romance. Like, can we do like, a queer romance?” And he [Davies] was like “Absolutely.” So, yeah, so I think that was always, like, I guess the center of it for us, and the heart of the story. Ncuti’s interpretation is so extroverted, so we were like, “Well let’s make them a bit more of an introvert, because that will just be fun, and you know, opposites attract.”

The Doctor’s Queerness Isn’t Just A Throwaway Line

While Fifteen and Rogue’s romance is far from the first time the Doctor shared a bond with a member of the same sex, as seen with Nine and Jack Harkness’ flirtations and kiss, and the unfulfilled relationship between Thirteen and Yaz Khan, it is nevertheless an important tale. Previously, the Doctor’s significant love interests, be they one-off or recurring characters, had been of the opposite sex. As such, the Doctor and Rogue’s romance is a significant step in Doctor Who‘s on-screen LGBTQ+ representation.

Furthermore, Herron incorporating a queer love story into her time writing for Doctor Who allowed her and Davies to address a common critique of major franchises’ handling of LGBTQ+ romance from her time in the MCU. While Herron canonized Loki and Sylvie as bisexual in Loki and broke ground for the series, many, including Davies, critiqued the brief line as a “feeble gesture,” something Herron partially agreed with. With “Rogue,” the creatives dug deeper into the Doctor’s sexuality so that it was more than just a token gesture.

Though far from the only queer love story in Doctor Who, the Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue’s short-lived romance is a vital step in terms of how the series handles LGBTQ+ stories. The Doctor is one of the most resilient and oldest sci-fi heroes in pop culture. Herron, Redman, and Davies’ work has allowed his tale to touch the hearts of queer viewers who may relate to him through their own lives. Additionally, with Rogue asking the Doctor to find him, there may be more to this relationship yet to come.