Ncuti Gatwa teases how Doctor Who Christmas Special will resonate with LGBTQ+ fans

The themes of isolation and chosen family will make this Christmas episode feel especially relevant to the queer community. 

News . Written by Nicole Lee.

Photo of Ncuti Gatwa wearing an open suit ahead of his Doctor Who Christmas special
Image: Instagram @ncutigatwa

In a recent interview, the actor playing the latest incarnation of the Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, described why he expects the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special to feel especially relevant to LGBTQ+ fans.

The Doctor’s character has a lot of depth. After endlessly traveling the universe and losing many of his closest companions, Gatwa described the Doctor as someone who experiences, “a loneliness, a sorrow, a sadness that they try to fill with chaos and mischief.”

Gatwa told The Guardian how these themes of loneliness feel especially relevant for LGBTQ+ fans around the Christmas holidays. He said, “We choose our families. And the Doctor is a lonely wanderer, looking for their next adventure… I know many a gay man, MANY a gay man, I could describe that way!”

He added, “I think that’s a beautiful, beautiful theme Doctor Who has, because chosen family can be more meaningful, more supportive. That really can be the case, and it’s a theme that absolutely runs through the show.”

 

Generations of Doctor Who fans have been watching the show since it first debuted in 1963. For many, the annual Christmas special is synonymous with the holiday season, and there is a lot of anticipation around this year’s episode since there hasn’t been an official Christmas episode since 2017.

Ncuti Gatwa said, “Doctor Who, Christmas … They’re both institutions that revolve around family, and coming together. They just go hand in hand. I mean, it’s Christmas Day, you get to sit down with your family, watch Doctor Who and go on an adventure.”

Gatwa further acknowledged that family Christmas gatherings are not easy for everyone, sharing that watching Doctor Who can at the very least provide, “An hour’s peace from the madness of Christmas, right?”

This Christmas episode promises to address these themes of non-traditional families and loneliness with this teaser, “Long ago on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and perhaps the secret of her birth.”

 

Best of all, fans will get to enjoy the first full episode featuring an openly gay Doctor in the series.

Fans have already identified subtle hints about the Doctor’s sexuality in one of the 60th-anniversary special episodes, in an exchange with one of the Doctor’s companions, Donna Noble. While walking together, Donna said: “Was it me or was Isaac Newton hot?”, to which the Doctor replied, “He was, wasn’t he? SO hot,” before catching himself and adding, “Oh, is that who I am now?”. Noble replied, “Well, it was never that far from the surface, I thought.”

While many fans have been speculating that the Doctor has always been queer, Gatwa’s character will be the first to directly address this.

Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road airs on BBC One and Disney+ on Christmas Day.

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