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The new “Doctor Who” will be coming to Disney+ and it will be sporting a progressive brand.
Producer Russell T. Davies explained in a Rolling Stone interview why his current incarnation of “Doctor Who,” a series going back over 60 years, is written to be especially progressive.
The British sci-fi series is about an eccentric scientist with a time machine, and the main character has been portrayed for most of the series’ history by a series of British male actors. Ncuti Gatwa’s take on the role, as an LGBTQ Rwandan immigrant to the U.K., represents one of many overhauls to the series.
“Doctor Who has always been socially progressive, but the commentary this time around seems even more pointed than Davies’ last stint,” Rolling Stone writer Alan Sepinwall wrote. “The Doctor’s trusty sonic screwdriver has been redesigned to resemble a remote control or flip phone, because Davies worried that the old sonic looked too much like a gun, which would encourage kids to pretend to shoot at one another.”
Sepinwall also wrote that “A recent special gave beloved Doctor Who character Donna Noble a nonbinary child, whom she fiercely defended against transphobes.”
He added that “‘Space Babies,’ the season premiere, offers up the adorable title characters in abundance, but also functions as a clear metaphor for governments that try to control reproductive rights without worrying about what happens to children after they’re born.”
Producer Russell T. Davies explained in a Rolling Stone interview why his current incarnation of “Doctor Who,” a series going back decades, is written to be especially progressive. (Davies Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images, Doctor Who logo from Disney Plus YouTube channel )
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Davies defended both of the above choices in the interview, declaring, “If you’re not writing that [in 2024], what on Earth are you doing?”
“I think our rights are in danger. I’m talking as someone who’s lived through gay liberation, all the way through the AIDS crisis, all the way through to the freedoms that we have now. I can see them spinning and being endangered, so there’s no choice in this. And if the most exciting and entertaining action-adventure show on television can also do that, I think that’s wonderful.”
This new version of “Doctor Who” is scheduled to debut on Disney+ on May 14.
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Davies also defended the choice of having an actor of a different racial background play the iconic role.
“It’s about time,” he said. “Sometimes, big old terrestrial and streaming shows can be slow machines to catch up with the world. And I’m getting older now, so you become one of those gatekeepers of television, for want of a better word, and your job is then is to hold the gate open: ‘Come on, everyone!’””
Ncuti Gatwa, an LGBTQ Rwandan immigrant to the UK who was one of the Kens in “Barbie” and who stars in the latest iteration of “Doctor Who,” spoke out on racial and gender grievances in a recent interview with Attitude magazine. (Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
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“That’s what the show does,” Gatwa agreed. “It evolves and it regenerates. I feel like it’s about time, and I am here. For all you damners out there, I’m not going anywhere.”
Gatwa has made similar comments about his critics before, using what some have argued is a slur against conservative, working-class White people, referring to them as “gamons.”
“[W]e’ve got to keep pushing for more,” he said. “Lots and lots and lots and lots more diversity, lots more inclusion on our screen. Lots and lots and lots of it for all you male gamons out there!”
VideoAlexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.
