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Jodie Whittaker’s time as The Doctor came to a close last year and then the fourteenth Doctor appeared and looked very much like
the tenth, played by none other than Who fan favourite, David Tennant. Now once again, it's time for another regeneration as the fourteenth
series of Doctor Who is set to premiere on 11 May 2024.
There's a midnight release of the first two episodes on BBC iPlayer and Disney+, before both are aired on BBC One later that day, with subsequent episodes following the same release pattern. Disney+ will bring Doctor Who to a whole new audience worldwide. | |
Get your fix of the Doctor in the Dr Who Zone |
Every time the Doctor regenerates, Doctor Who regenerates along with them, transforming into something different. The new shows are once again the
work of writer Russell T Davies, the TV legend who made Doctor Who so popular again with his revival of 2005.
The new Doctor is gay, black, incredibly handsome & fit and likes to go out clubbing. Quite a change from the character played by William Hartnell in the 1960's when the Daleks first invaded the world by emerging from underneath Hammersmith Bridge. |
The new series has quite a cast:
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15th Doctor Who - Ncuti Gatwa Photo: MTV UK on YouTube CC BY 3.0 Wikimedia Commons |
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But what is so special about Doctor Who - and why is it so popular with us gay boys?
Well, Doctor Who fanatic Alex has a familiar story. He says he knew from the age of three. It was something he felt inexplicably drawn to writes Christopher Kelly. The feelings never went away. At school the difference between him and the other boys became ever more apparent. While his friends played football on a Saturday afternoon, Alex stayed at home. As Alex got older he realised there were others like him. The Sisterhood of Karn is an "earth-based group of gay people united in their interest of Doctor Who and cult TV". You got it. Queer anoraks? Sad no hopers with no life?
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| Alex, a sister for many of the group's twenty years, is aware of the stigma attached to the series. "I know some people who would rather come out as gay than as a Doctor Who fan," he says, adding: "I've always been out in both senses." Has he ever been Who bashed? He hasn't we are pleased to say, but he's used to people taking the piss once they discover his enthusiasm for the long-running sci-fi drama. |
Photo: Various - CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Alex's partner, Richard, is also a Who fanatic. The pair met at a Sisterhood of Karn meeting more than ten years ago. Richard blames
the "obsessives" for the unfair flack thrown at the fans. He argues that just as not all gay people dress in drag, then not all fans of Doctor Who
wear long scarves and eat jelly babies. "Not every fan allows (Doctor Who) to overwhelm their lives," says Richard. "It's just something that's fun."
Richard watched Doctor Who as a boy and started collecting the videos when he was a student. Now he's got the lot, more than a hundred of them. And of course he's now having to recollect the entire set on DVD. To entice the fans to replicate their collections - i.e. to extract more dosh for the same old toss - there's a special Doctor Who Shop, in Upton Park East London, which sells everything from personalised Doctor Who Memorabilia to Art Prints, Cushions, Mugs, Magnets, T-Shirts and even items of homeware like Clocks, Tea Towels and Cushions. But will people buy the items? "Yes, I've been brainwashed," admits Richard. | |
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Photo: Evan Moss
CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
The Sisterhood of Karn are a group of gay men of all ages and professions gather to discuss and exchange sci-fi ideas.
"We're a bunch of friends who have a similar interest," says Richard. "It's just a social thing."
For some reason, science fiction seems to attract more gay followers than straight ones. And Doctor Who has proportionally more gay fans than any other cult sci-fi series. So why the huge gay appeal? Alex puts it down to Doctor Who being strangely sexless. Much like its fans. "Most TV series tend to have a great deal of romantic interest within them, but Doctor Who never did," says Alex. The theory being then that a kid growing up gay could watch Doctor Who without feeling alienated. Get it. |
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Richard comes up with another reason why gay kids may have tapped particularly into Doctor Who. "Doctor Who is very non-macho and stands up to
baddies without using physical force. Which is comparable to how gay people learn to stand up to bigots," he says. Richard even goes as far
as to say he always thought that Doctor Who might have been gay. "What people don't realise is his female assistants were a bunch of fag hags. I'm
really delighted that in this new series I've been proved right!"
But getting back to the Sisterhood of Karn, what exactly goes on at these meetings? "We play videos," answers Alex. "And shout out the lines in a Rocky Horror kind of a way." The group also arranges outings to famous locations featured in the series, and is currently trying to organise a weekend excursion to the moons of Saturn. "Although," says Alex, "funding maybe a stumbling block." The Sisterhood Of Karn on Twitter There are 8 episodes of Doctor Who to enjoy in this 14th series of the programme: Space Babies; The Devil's Chord; Boom ; 73 Yards; Dot and Bubble; Rogue; The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death. The first two episodes will appear on BBC iPlayer and for a worldwide audience on Disney+ at midnight on Saturday 11 May 2024, before both are aired on BBC One later that day.
We can't wait to see it! | |
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