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Bill Potts wil be the first openly-gay companion

The Nth Doctor

The Nth Doctor

Wanderer in the Fourth Dimension
Premium Member
BBC has revealed that Bill Potts will be the first openly-gay companion on the television series.

And it's about damn time. As Pearl Mackie says in the article, it shouldn't be a big deal in this day and age, but it is.

She isn't the first openly-gay companion in the expanded universe with Oliver Harper, voiced by Tom North, as a companion of The First Doctor in a trilogy of Companion Chronicles with Big Finish. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others in the books and comics, but I'm not well versed in those.

Conversely, Jack and River were bisexual and weren't full-time companions
 
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Emh said:
She isn't the first openly-gay companion in the expanded universe with Oliver North, voiced by Tom North, as a companion of The First Doctor in a trilogy of Companion Chronicles with Big Finish. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others in the books and comics, but I'm not well versed in those.
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In the comics, there's Izzy Sinclair, who traveled with the eighth Doctor in DWM in the 90s and 00s. To be fair, Izzy's sexuality wasn't entirely clear until the end of her tenure in the TARDIS.

Cindy Wu, a companion to the tenth Doctor in Titan's current run of comics, probably is gay. (I'm a few issues behind.) It certainly seems that Cindy has an attraction and romantic interest in her best friend and fellow traveler Gabby.

Emh said:
Conversely, Jack and River are bisexual and weren't full-time companions
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Jack was very much a full-time companion in Series 1. Yes, he's only there half the season, but there's nothing part-time about his tenure in the TARDIS.
 
Its definitely about time. Hopefully Moffat will be up to writing her, since he can be a bit iffy with female characters at times (although that doesn't mean all the time, Amy and River are basically my favorite female Doctor Who characters).
 
You know, Doctor Who being as inclusive towards the gay community as it is, I actually hadn't noticed that they've never had a gay primary companion yet. Although certainly Jack being a bisexual who became lead of a spin-off series counts as an achievement. Oh well, good to see progress all the same.
 
Jack was very much a full-time companion in Series 1.

Yes, he's only there half the season, but there's nothing part-time about his tenure in the TARDIS.
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Appears in 5 out of 13 episodes, only an actual crew member of the Tardis for 3 episodes.

Sounds part time to me
 
Allyn Gibson said:
In the comics, there's Izzy Sinclair, who traveled with the eighth Doctor in DWM in the 90s and 00s. To be fair, Izzy's sexuality wasn't entirely clear until the end of her tenure in the TARDIS.

Cindy Wu, a companion to the tenth Doctor in Titan's current run of comics, probably is gay. (I'm a few issues behind.) It certainly seems that Cindy has an attraction and romantic interest in her best friend and fellow traveler Gabby.
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Ah, thanks for the background. I knew of Izzy (if only because of The Company of Friends) but I hadn't realized she was gay.

Allyn Gibson said:
Jack was very much a full-time companion in Series 1. Yes, he's only there half the season, but there's nothing part-time about his tenure in the TARDIS.
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Yeah, I suppose you're right, especially in comparison to Oliver.

Markonian said:
So they're trying to catch up with DSC?
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I highly doubt BBC or Moffat are paying any attention to Discovery or any other American production in that regard.
 
Emh said:
BBC has revealed that Bill Potts will be the first openly-gay companion on the television series.

And it's about damn time. As Pearl Mackie says in the article, it shouldn't be a big deal in this day and age, but it is.

She isn't the first openly-gay companion in the expanded universe with Oliver North, voiced by Tom North, as a companion of The First Doctor in a trilogy of Companion Chronicles with Big Finish. I wouldn't be surprised if there were others in the books and comics, but I'm not well versed in those.

Conversely, Jack and River are bisexual and weren't full-time companions
Click to expand...

Some of the 8th doctor novels with Sam Jones as the companion implied she was bisexual.
 
Wasn't one of the New Adventures companions gay? Ros or Chris? Or am I misremembering/misinterpreting a scene in Damaged Goods where someone thought Chris was gay? Something to do with having an earring in his left ear, or something.

Probably just author RTD's attempt to at least normalise the possibility.
 
Emh said:
BBC has revealed that Bill Potts will be the first openly-gay companion on the television series.

And it's about damn time. As Pearl Mackie says in the article, it shouldn't be a big deal in this day and age, but it is.

She isn't the first openly-gay companion in the expanded universe with Oliver Harper, voiced by Tom North
Click to expand...
Tom Allen, aka Pip Binn in Bleak Expectations. In a brilliant time-warping moment in the last episode, he meets his older self, who comments "I don't remember being so bald... or camp."
 
Not that it really matters but it seemed Jack was bisexual in Doctor Who but for all intents and purposes he was gay in Torchwood. Which is more noteworthy these days being gay or bisexual?

I don't think it's as big of a deal these days as it used to be (remember RTD and the "gay agenda"?). Like at this point I would've found a male companion (straight or not) more surprising than this revelation.
 
Mr. Adventure said:
Not that it really matters but it seemed Jack was bisexual in Doctor Who but for all intents and purposes he was gay in Torchwood.
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In Miracle Day he was certainly more gay than bisexual, indeed RTD even regrets making Jack "too gay" (his exact quote) that year feeling new viewers would have no reason to believe he was in fact bisexual. But throughout the first three seasons Jack was definitely depicted as a bisexual. In season 1 we met one of his former girlfriends, in season 2 we see him looking at wedding photos of him marrying various women, and in Children of Earth we find out he had a daughter.
 
diankra said:
Tom Allen, aka Pip Binn in Bleak Expectations. In a brilliant time-warping moment in the last episode, he meets his older self, who comments "I don't remember being so bald... or camp."
Click to expand...
Quite right. I don't know where I got "North" from. :o
 
The Wormhole said:
In Miracle Day he was certainly more gay than bisexual, indeed RTD even regrets making Jack "too gay" (his exact quote) that year feeling new viewers would have no reason to believe he was in fact bisexual. But throughout the first three seasons Jack was definitely depicted as a bisexual. In season 1 we met one of his former girlfriends, in season 2 we see him looking at wedding photos of him marrying various women, and in Children of Earth we find out he had a daughter.
Click to expand...

That always bothered me about latter Jack, not his sexuality itself just that it shifted so obviously in one direction.

Anyway good news about Bill and it interesting to see there hasn't been the same kind of "won't someone think of the children" who-ha there might have been just a few years ago.
 
Starkers said:
Anyway good news about Bill and it interesting to see there hasn't been the same kind of "won't someone think of the children" who-ha there might have been just a few years ago.
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Thankfully, Doctor Who fandom is a bit more accepting than the general public.
 
There's a couple of gay characters in the Doctor Who spinoff series Class, which will be on soon in the US.
 
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