Trans Representation in the Name of the Doctor: An Open Letter to ‘Doctor Who’ Showrunner Russell T. Davies

Dear Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies,

I haven’t always been your biggest champion. I’m amongst a very small minority who preferred both the Moffat and Chibnall eras to your first era of Doctor Who. I’m also amongst the minority that actually preferred your second run as showrunner to your first. But I’ve always appreciated your efforts to bring the show back for a new generation, and the fact that you made queer representation an important part of this show. In that regard, I’m writing to you on behalf of a different type of minority group, one that you count yourself a member of: the LGBTQ+ community.

You have always made a very bold statement as showrunner of Doctor Who that LGBTQ+ representation is not just welcome in this show but an essential part of it. You stood defiantly against conservatives and insisted that queer representation is fully appropriate for what is technically a children’s program. I’m fully aware that the LGBTQ+ representation that we saw in both the Moffat and Chibnall eras happened because they were following your example. While the classic series dabbled in metaphors about queerness, undertones, and coding, you brought it to the forefront in a way nobody had ever seen on the show before.

Since your return to the show for the 60th anniversary special, you’ve made sure to focus on trans representation in particular, something that was lacking on the show before. It wasn’t just the addition of the character of Rose Noble and the minor character Trudy. The way the 14th Doctor asked The Meep the correct pronouns to use when addressing The Meep warmed my heart. And it makes sense: there’s no way that the Doctor wouldn’t be accepting of trans people. It’s the Doctor; of course they would accept us.

The fanbase is being overrun by very toxic people. Whether they’re in the majority or just a very vocal minority I can’t be sure. But it’s clear that their issue with the last few seasons of the show has nothing to do with the writing, the acting, or the amazing production quality that you’ve pulled off with the immense Disney budget. Some of their complaints are clearly based in thinly veiled racism over the first Black Doctor in the history of the series. A few of them are upset about the Doctor being queerer than previous incarnations. But the vast majority of people I’m finding in Facebook groups are saying the same thing: They’re sick of all the “trans nonsense.”

Not that there was a lot of trans “nonsense” in the series. You introduced one major trans character, one minor trans character, hired a trans woman to write an episode, and had one Doctor ask an alien for the correct pronouns. It’s not exactly like you’ve put trans people in every episode. But trans people are a particular favorite group to attack right now as the governments of  both the U.S. and the U.K. have taken extraordinary steps to strip us of our rights. The right wing has whipped people into a fury about trans people as this demon that are trying to sneak into women’s spaces and steal all of women’s hard-earned sports trophies. Toxic “fans” can’t handle that you made minor references to treating trans people with respect. God forbid.

You’ve said yourself that Doctor Who is likely to take a pause after this season. The ratings are down, and it seems unlikely that Disney will continue their partnership with you. A recent report from The Mirror—a tabloid of dubious veracity—suggests that the show will only take a one year hiatus and then return with you as showrunner again, albeit without Disney’s financial backing. Whatever the future of Doctor Who may be, I hope that you have some say in what happens next and, if you do, I have one request to ask of you: Never, ever compromise on trans representation.

There are so many forces aligned against the transgender community right now. The U.K. Supreme Court ruled that we aren’t who we say we are, largely thanks to an effort that was financially backed by Joanne Rowling, a former favorite author of the Doctor. The President of the United States has declared that there are two genders which are synonymous with sex, in spite of all the scientific study that contradicts that. Many of us are in deep despair right now, and one of our few saving graces is that we know that a higher power than both the U.K. and U.S. governments supports us. No, I’m not talking about god, I’m talking about the President of Earth themselves: The Doctor.

 If you remain in the position of showrunner, please don’t dilute the trans representation you’ve already introduced on the show. Doctor Who is a show that should always move forwards and never backwards, especially in terms of representation. If you don’t remain in a position as showrunner but you have some say in where the show goes next, please ensure that the show doesn’t go to anyone who would undo the progress you’ve already made.

Undoubtedly, if Disney pulls their funding from the show, there will be people in suits who think they know a lot more than they really do who will be talking to you about ways to “fix” the show. The 15th Doctor era has been excellent and doesn’t need fixing, but inevitably someone will want to find a way to make the show more profitable. If part of their plan to fix the show is to dial back the LGBTQ+ representation, and particularly the trans representation, please resist that change with all the power you have.

The critics like to call you “woke.” It’s a word that the right wing has latched onto, taken from the Black community, because the right thinks it sounds funny and is easy to ridicule. It’s easy to put a funny word on something and act like it’s worthy of ridicule. But peel back the funny word, and you’ll find that what it stands for is empathy and common human decency. But if they said the full thing out loud without using their funny word, it would reveal them as the bad guys. If anyone tries to make the show less “woke,” please remember what that word actually means and resist them.

The Doctor is a benevolent being that sees the best in good people. In many ways, they actually are sort of like god in that respect, or what I would imagine a god to be outside the confines of conservative religion. People joke that Doctor Who is my religion, to which I always reply “I feel like only doing things that the Doctor would approve of is a pretty good way to live your life. If that’s a religion, so be it.” The Doctor has two hearts to love us with twice as much and the intelligence to save us all from destruction. Those are qualities that we desperately need in today’s world. And the Doctor would never stop loving and supporting trans people. The Doctor would always fight back if anyone told them to stop supporting us. I trust that you will too, in the name of the Doctor.

On behalf of trans Whovians everywhere,
Julie River

Doctor Who is now streaming on Disney Plus.

Featured photo courtesy of Disney