Homosexual Who

It has been revealed that the new companion Bill Potts will be Doctor Who's first "openly gay" companion. Anyone with any sense is pleased with this news. Plenty of die-hard Doctor Who fans have been discussing how correct the statement that she is the "first" is so I'd thought I'd explore that.

The obvious go to when searching for a gay companion is Captain Jack Harkness. The first problem with this is whether he actually counts as a companion. Of course there's no set definition for what a companion is but traditionally the companion hangs around for a whole series or more. I would argue that he's only been a companion in (Boom Town, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways, Utopia and The Sound of Drums) and a supporting character in (The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, Last of the Time Lords, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End).

Though Jack is very open about his sexuality, he isn't simply gay. He's bisexual from virtually the moment we meet him. Having flirted with a male soldier he then flirts with Rose Tyler. I think many casual viewers consider the character as gay. The actor John Barrowman is and many of Captain Jack's more significant relationships are with other men- like Alonso and Ianto Jones. But in Children of Earth we learn he had had a child with a woman and he is shown to be in love with Gwen Cooper throughout Torchwood.

The other character referenced in the BBC News story about Bill Potts was River Song. Now all of River's on screen relationships with the Doctor have been heterosexual- mostly with the Doctor but also with several others in The Husbands of River Song. It is suggested she is bisexual though with a mention of her "second wife" in that same episode. She's certainly considered bisexual by creator Steven Moffat but the on-screen evidence in limited.

Many fans have discussed the idea that Clara Oswald is also bisexual. On screen she is shown to be attracted to the Doctor and Danny Pink. Oswin Oswald claimed the first person she fancied was a girl called Nina, though seeing as though this was only a version of the character and potentially a joke anyway I think we can rule that out. Clara definitely suggest she had some sort of relationship with Jane Austen though ("great kisser") and the Doctor seemed to think Clara was attracted to Ashildr.

Again, it's all very much suggestive. The casual viewer is likely to assume that both River Song and Clara are straight. It's all very well suggesting that characters are homosexual but that almost suggests it's something to hide away or some sort of joke. Bill Potts will be clearly stated as gay from her second line.

Other than companions, here are some more gay characters from Doctor Who (a by no means complete list).

• Alice and May Cassini are an elderly gay couple stuck in the traffic jam in Gridlock
• In The Unicorn and the Wasp it is uncovered that Roger Curbishley is in a relationship with male servant Davenport
• 1800s Torchwood Three's Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd are gay.
• In Day of the Moon Canton Everett Delaware III says he wants to marry a black man.
• In spin-off Class Charlie and Matteusz are gay and in a relationship for the majority of the series.
• The Fat One and the Thin One are "Thin/Fat Gay Married Anglican Marines" in A Good Man Goes to War.
• Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint are notable for having a relationship with is both homosexual and inter-species. They pair have so far appeared in A Good Man Goes to War, The Snowmen, The Crimson Horror, The Name of the Doctor and Deep Breath. 

Doctor Who has long held that message that everyone is equal and I like that it has repeatedly been suggested that in the future there is no such thing as homophobia and that sexuality is fluid. Bill Potts is the latest in a long line of role models that cater for a range of people and I am proud to call myself a fan of a show that can do this.

The Legends of River Song

Like the recent Legends of Ashildr book, this has five short stories featuring River Song. All the stories are from her perspective and are written like they appear in her diary.

Picnic at Asgard by Jenny T. Colgan: Probably the best story of the collection but it's by Colgan so that isn't really surprising. This is one of the last River Song stories that has been mentioned on screen that we haven't seen. It's a fab story featuring a Viking-based sci-fi theme park which is as good as it sounds.

Suspicious Minds by Jacqueline Rayner: River and the Eleventh Doctor team up with an auton Elvis and visit an insect-zoo which is not all it seems. A story that could only happen in Doctor Who which works brilliantly.

A Gamble with Time by Steve Lyons: The Doctor can't cross his own time line so he gets River involved instead. It's a timey-wimey story mostly set in London 2016 featuring a giant alien slug. It's awesome.

Death in New Venice by Guy Adams: My least favourite story. The Doctor is nowhere to be seen in a story about a futuristic rebuild of Venice that goes wrong. Whilst the Venice idea is good I've seen the basic plot before.

River of Time by Andrew Lane: Another no Doctor story but it's steeped in Who mythology anyway. River goes to visit an alien archaeological site where an alien species contemporary to the Time Lords lived. Inevitably they are still there. Very enjoyable.

A good collection and whilst I felt all the authors captured the character well it did mean the style of writing differed a little, as did the format. I felt the authors needed to work more closely together to make the collection a little more coherent. Overall I thought this was one of the best Who releases of recent years. 

The Angel’s Kiss/PS

The run of episodes may have ended but there’s always new Doctor Who stuff to digest! This time round I’m taking a look at a prequel and a sequel to The Angels Take Manhattan. There might be some spoilers for that episode so if you’ve not seen it you might want to avoid reading on- basically run!

First up I’ve reviewed The Angel’s Kiss.

The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery by Justin Richards
This short e-book is a prequel to the Series 7 episode "The Angels Take Manhattan". It's narrated by River Song in her guise of New York detective Melody Malone. It's actually written by Justin Richards who is the lead writer in the book range, though this is very different from any other Doctor Who book.

The story sees Melody Malone investigate when a movie star pays her a visit worrying for his life then appears to forget it ever happened the next day. It's more a story of human evil with a brief but pretty scary appearance from the weeping angel Julius Grayle has acquired in the TV episode.

It's works as a great story but the highlight here is how brilliantly Richards has managed to catch River Song's voice. It's full of great lines as she subtly talks about the bets parts of her body and flirts her way through the investigation. It's incredibly convincing that it's written by the character and sets up The Angels Take Manhattan TV story really well.

So that’s the prequel of The Angels Take Manhattan but we’ve also got a sequel which explains what happened to Brian Williams and to the Ponds. Sadly it was never filmed but the short scene by Chris Chibnall has been put together in the form of an animated storyboard with a voiceover by Arthur Darvill who plays Rory. It’s pretty damn good. Here’s the scene:

That’s such a great little scene and it’s just a shame that it was never filmed. Chibnall for next show-runner anyone?