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Gay agenda on Doctor Who? No, just true to the genre.

Critics questioning a same-sex kiss on Doctor Who should remember it's always been a genre that pushes boundaries.

2014-08-30_0056A curious review of Doctor Who in today’s Courier Mail is headined “Lesbian kiss between Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint has appeal only for Doctor Who tragics.”

Given the show rated well for ABC across two sittings and an iview broadcast, the numbers would suggest the appeal is actually much broader than Whovians.

But author Des Houghton outlines his argument here:

Has political correctness gone so far that it is now acceptable to promote interspecies lesbianism on prime-time television?

It certainly appears that way. You get quite an eyeful when you tune in to the BBC production of Doctor Who on the ABC.

There you will meet Madame Vastra, a Sirulian lesbian warrior queen, and her human “handmaiden” Jenny Flint. Jenny is described in BBC backgrounders as Madame Vastra’s wife.

I find it all very confusing and slightly off-putting, especially the revelation that Madame Vastra, a lizard lady, has such a long tongue she can catch flies on the other side of the room.

Conceding he is “no fan of sci-fi” it’s a little perplexing that he penned the review but referencing UK complaints about a BBC “blatant gay agenda” perhaps serves to further his argument.

Question: is it a “blatant straight agenda” when heterosexual couples kiss?

Surely it is whatever is true to the characters….

Madame Vastra is hardly the first queer character to appear in a TV sci-fi. Did those same complaints miss the blatant gay agenda kiss between Captain Jack Harkness and Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood way back in 2007? The lead BBC character was ‘omni-sexual’ across 4 seasons.

The whole point of sci-fi is that it allows writers to weave social themes -including those that seem an impossibility in current universes- to be explored side by side in harmony.

Star Trek was considered ahead of its time back in the 1960s. It had a crew with a black woman, an Asian man and a Vulcan. Twilight Zone was famous for tackling issues of racism in the 1950s and 60s.

There were same-sex kisses in Deep Space Nine, Stargate Universe, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Has Des never seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show -the world’s most queer sci-fi musical of all time? Or fantasy shows such as Xena? True Blood? And let’s not even get started on Dr. Smith. Oh the pain, the pain….

Alas Des’ love for Doctor Who does not end there:

I think the latest Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi, is too old for the role at 56.

He is a scrawny, improbable Time Lord who is not a very convincing actor, in my view.

Fair enough if you don’t find his acting convincing. But too old? Too old for a character that is 2,000 years old? Huh?

William Hartnell was 55 when he first appeared in the role and stayed until he was 61.

Jon Pertwee was 51. And technically John Hurt was 73 when he made his first (guest) appearance as the Ninth Doctor.

Perhaps this all only goes to demonstrate that what passes before sci-fi characters without so much as batting an eye-lid is still a fantasy for those of us in the real world.

15 Responses

  1. Who is this Des person anyway? Never heard of him, but the entire planet has heard of Doctor Who!
    Maybe he has a problem with Lesbians as he has forgotten that RTD’s seasons were much more gay in their content.
    The relationship between Vastra and Jenny seems so “normal” and unoffensive in the way it is presented that only a wowser would have an issue with it. This is the 21st Century, not the 19th but maybe Des should take his TARDIS back a couple of centuries to where his attitudes and opinions belong.
    As for Peter’s age … at least we won’t have to put up with more pointless “kissing the assistant” scenes as we have had over recent years! 🙂

  2. If you really want to complain, write a letter to the Courier Mail. It’s that forum that the newspaper and the readers will really take notice- and show that the opinion of the correspondent isn’t shared by everyone.

  3. Have to say Jenny is a very lucky lady 😉

    As you said David this is nothing new and clearly the target audiance doesn’t care and most ‘kids’ probably don’t even notice.

    And really saying Peter is too old? I like they are using an older doctor after Matt it makes a nice change to the tone of the show.

  4. We used to have a bumper sticker up here – “Is it true, or did you read it in the Courier-Mail?”

    Didn’t hate the kiss. Hated the need to make a weak excuse for it, and also hated the continuous unnecessary heavy-handed “I’m a woman! Have you met my wife? She’s also a woman! Did I mention we’re married?” ramming-home-of-the-point (as I also did with Dribble Swamp in earlier stories). Not to mention the dubious “drape yourself over there, totty-bit, while I do some serious deducting” scene hardly indicated a progressive attitude towards human relationships.

    At least they seemed to keep the gain control away from Murray Gold, which was a blessing…

  5. David, it’s the Courier Mail… and like all things News Ltd it is the newspaper equivalent internet trolling.

    Annoying, outdated and inclined to extreme bursts of (pretending) to be offended. No substance, certainly no logic and only there to get your blood pressure high or distract from a more important issue.

    I treat all News Ltd as if they were trolls, which is ignore and report when necessary.

  6. He finishes this article with “Pathetic, isn’t it?”. Which is a pretty good way to describe his entire article. I would never dare to write about Dr Who or sci-fi in general because I am not a fan and therefore not qualified to offer any real opinion. He’s just another News Ltd attention-seeker imagining gay agendas and looking for any reason to attack the ABC. Personally, I say bravo for including lizard lesbians in Dr Who and double bravo for hiring an older actor

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