The first of three special episodes of long running sci-fi show Doctor Who has aired, and some fans are upset that the show spent some time addressing the use of pronouns and gender assumptions.
The 60th anniversary specials have brough back actor David Tennant to the lead role, and he is reunited with his former companion Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate.
Fans have waited over a year for new episodes of the show, and The Star Beast is their first taste of the new iteration of the long running program. The episode was based on a comic book published over 40 years ago and tells the story of an alien known as The Meep.
In the series it’s 15 years since The Doctor parted ways with companion Donna Noble. While they’ve been apart, she’s married and had a child. Her daughter Rose is transgender and played by Heartstopper actor Yasmin Feeny.
When a spaceship crashes to earth, Rose hides the alien occupant, The Meep, in the family’s garden shed. When The Doctor meets the alien, he addresses The Meep as “he”.
“You’re assuming he as a pronoun?” Rose quickly asks. The Doctor quickly corrects himself, saying Rose was making a “good point”, and asks The Meep how they would like to be addressed?
‘My chosen pronoun is the definite article. I am always The Meep,’ the alien voiced by Mirriam Margolyes replies. The Doctor notes that he also prefers to be addressed in the same way, as simply The Doctor.
The discussion on pronouns was welcomed by many fans of the show. Doctor Who has a long history of including LGBTIQA+ characters in the program, and in recent years the main character has also changed gender from male to female on more than one occasion.
However, some fans of the program took to social media to complain about the inclusion of ‘woke ideology’ in the new episode, bemoaning the inclusion of a transgender character, and the dialogue about pronouns.
Prue MacSween says the pronoun conversation has ‘destroyed’ the show.
The online discussion has led to conservative news commentators weighing in on the issue.
Sky News host Rita Panahi told her viewers that she’d never watched a single episode of the long running sci-fi series, but after watching short clip that included the discussion on pronouns, she’s not likely to become a viewer in the future.
“I’d rather stick thumb tacks in my eyes.” Panahi said.
Regular Sky News commentator Prue McSween said the show had been ‘destroyed’ by the scene.
“This is how to destroy a franchise and disappoint so many millions of people around the world.” McSween said. “This is going to be the end of it, the death knell, and it deserves to be.”
MacSween has previously been called out for using transgender slurs during her appearances on Sky News, while in 2016 Channel Nine faced complains after she made jokes about people who are transgender on one of their programs.
Fans highlight a similar discussion took place in the program 50 years ago
While Sky News commentators and some fans are up in arms, it’s also been highlighted that the show included a discussion of pronouns and gender in an episode that aired in early 1972.
Fifty-one years ago, when The Doctor was played by Jon Pertwee, the character travelled to the world of Peladon. There the Doctor and his companion Jo Grant, played by Katy Manning, met diplomat Alpha Centuri.
At one point in the story Jo asks the Doctor if Alpha Centuri, a one-eyed green alien, is a “he” or a “she”.
“Neither”, the Doctor replies, explaining that the alien is a hermaphrodite.
the doctor and jo briefly discuss alpha centauri’s pronouns (1972) pic.twitter.com/9ckdYc9Eay
— ava dw spoilers !! (@AMYSJEDI) November 27, 2023
After appearing in the 1972 story The Curse of Peladon, the character of Alpha Centuri returned in 1974 for The Monster of Peladon and also made a brief appearance in the 2017 story The Emperess of Mars.
Mirriam Margolyes recently shared her change of heart on pronouns
In a recent interview actor Mirriam Margolyes said that she used to be troubled by people using different pronouns but shared that she now embraces people’s choices.
Margolyes said she changed her mind after having a conversation with Australian actor Zoe Terakes, who is transgender.
Appearing alongside actors Greta Lee and Sarah Snook and pop legend Boy George on the Graham Norton Show, Margolyes shares that as a lover of the English language she was initially opposed to using they or them when addressing people.
“I was very keen on grammar, and so when people started talking about pronouns and that they wanted ‘them’ and not ‘he’, ‘she’, I thought what ‘what the heck are they talking about?’”
“It’s clear, it’s grammar, it’s the structure of language.” Margolyes said.
The actor said she changed her opinion though after she had a conversation with Terakes who starred in the television series Wentworth.
Margolyes shared that Terakes had asked her “What does it matter to you? If you can make somebody happy by calling them ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’, why not do it?”
“It doesn’t matter about grammar.” Margolyes told the audience to a round of applause, whoops and cheers. “If you can make somebody happy by giving them as a sense of themselves, then do it!”
The actor shared the story after Boy George suggested people’s opinions become more set as they get older.
Fans eagerly await the next two episode of ‘Doctor Who’.
Fans are now eagerly awaiting the remaining two 60th anniversary specials which are airing on streaming service Disney Plus.
Little is known about the next episode Wild Blue Yonder, but the third special will see The Doctor tackling one of his oldest enemies The Toymaker.
The character of The Toymaker was last seen on the show way back in 1966 when he was played by British actor Michael Gough. This time round Neil Patrick Harris will be taking on the role.
OIP Staff
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