Doctor Who made history Saturday evening, with the Time Lord having his first ever same-sex kiss on screen.
The episode, set in the British Regency period of 1813, saw Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor team up with bounty hunter Rogue, played by Jonathan Groff. The characters were initially mistrusting of each other, but had to team up to fight the shape-shifting Chuldurs.
(SPOILER ALERT!)
Mischievously flirting throughout the episode, shocking the other guests at the Regency ball with same-sex dancing, their dalliance finally saw Rogue sacrifice himself to save the world, but not before he had given the Doctor a goodbye kiss.
The Daily Mail reports that fans delighted in what some called “the electric chemistry” between Dr Who star Ncuti Gatwa, and Jonathan Groff who plays bounty hunter Rogue.
Doctor Who has been running with a long list of title stars since 1963. Gatwa is the first actor in the role to identify as queer, and the first black actor to play the Time Lord for a full series.
He recently told Variety: “I feel like anyone that has a problem with someone who’s not a straight white man playing this character, you’re not really, truly a fan of the show. You’ve not been watching!”
He added: “Because the show is about regeneration, and the Doctor is an alien — why would they only choose to be this sort of person?”
Doctor Who was created by the BBC and is currently made by Bad Wolf Productions. Disney has bought the streaming rights for every episode.