The latest season of revamped sci-fi series Doctor Who is romping through run with the sixth episode in the 8-part series going to air just a few hours ago.
The BBC series is now being distributed globally by Disney and the new series has seen new stars Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson lead the cast.
Sex Education star Gatwa plays the time travelling and mysteriously named Doctor, while Gibson plays his latest companion Ruby Sunday.
This week the Doctor and Ruby travelled back to Regency Britain, leading Ruby to declare “Oh My Bridgerton!” at their surroundings. Here they discover the mysterious Rogue, played by Looking star Jonathan Groff.
Game of Thrones star Indira Varma also guest stars in the episode as the Dutchess of Pemberton.
Spoilers ahead…
At the ball being hosted by the Dutchess of Pemberton in 1813 the Doctor and Ruby, as always, discover everything is not exactly what is seems.
The Doctor encounters Rogue played by Groff, who turns out to be a bounty hunter searching for an alien race called the Chulder, shapeshifting birdlike aliens among the human population.
When he scans the Doctor, he discovers the Time Lord also had the ability to change his appearance, leading his to assume he’s one of the bird creatures he’s hunting down.
In his interactions with Rogue the Doctor shows he has superior technical knowledge by taking over the audio systems of Rogue’s spaceship and dacing to Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
The Doctor tries to use his trusty psychic paper to prove his identity but when Rogue looks at it it’s just a message telling him that he’s “really hot”, showing that the time traveler may have been a little distracted by the bounty hunters good looks.
As the plot progresses the Doctor is able to convince Rogue of his bona fides, and they head off together to reunite with Ruby who appears to have fallen foul (pun fully intended) of the bird creatures.
After trapping the creatures, the Doctor is faced with a dilemma. He can vanquish them to another dimension, but not without sacrificing Ruby.
As the action reaches its climax Rogue grabs the Doctor giving him a passionate kiss on the mouth, while at the same time taking the controls for the device that will remove the creatures out of the Time Lord’s hand.
Head writer Russell T Davies, who wrote the iconic series Queer as Folk and It’s a Si, has returned to the show recently having helmed its relaunch in 2005.
Over the year’s he’s added elements to the character to show The Doctor has a more fluid approach to sexuality and attraction. In recent years the character has also changed genders being played by both Jody Whittaker and Jo Martin.
Since Davies return to the show for a series of 60th anniversary specials which saw David Tennent return to the role, he’s made several mentions of the doctor having same-sex attractions.
The current series has just two more episodes to go. The double part story of The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death. Fans will be hoping the finale answers some of the many mysteries that have been presented in the previous episodes.
The latest episode with the same-sex kiss for its lead character has been praised for allowing The Doctor to be “out, loud and proud”. Writing in iNews, Stephen Kelly said the show’s recent episodes had been bold and experimental, and the Doctor’s “first gay snog is groundbreaking TV”.
Writing in Screen Rant Daniel Bibby noted that while the Doctor has previously had romantic relationships with characters and has previously been on the receiving end of a same-sex kiss, this instance is the first time the character appeared to be enthused for about the situation.
