Over the last 60 years, the BBC show Dr. Who has developed a cult following. The series has seen 14 actors in the title role, with actor Ncuti Gatwa most recently taking over.
Ratings for the current iteration, however, have been slipping, and Gatwa claims that it is because of racists who can’t stand seeing a non-white individual portraying the main character.
While the show has always had socially progressive roots, producer Russell T. Davies recently told Rolling Stone his current incarnation is written to be especially progressive.
Episodes in the newest season include redesigning a flip phone so it doesn’t look like a gun, a character defending a “non-binary” child against “transphobes,” and an entire episode dedicated to pushing abortion.
But for Gatwa, it couldn’t possibly be shoving an endlessly progressive agenda down viewers’ throats, causing a downturn in viewership.
It must be racism.
Bounding into Comics shared Gatwa’s recent interview with NPR.
From there, Deggan would turn to press Gatwa for his thoughts on the mountains of criticism fans have leveled towards Davies’ aforementioned decision to focus the series’ narrative on overt sociopolitical messaging – “If you’re not writing that [in 2024], what on Earth are you doing?” the showrunner declared during a previous interview with Rolling Stone – rather than entertainment.
However, instead of earnestly actually engaging with the substance of this very specific and widespread complaint, Gatwa instead moved to paint those fans who have tuned out of Doctor Who as nothing more than anti-black racists.
“I don’t want to diminish racial aggression at all, but for me, personally, I find it fascinating that it matters so much to these people,” said the actor. “You are going to limit yourselves from a show that you love because you don’t like something about someone’s appearance. It’s just, like, really sad for them.”
It should come as no surprise that the new, progressive-agenda-pushing version of “Doctor Who” debuted on Disney+ on May 14.
