EntertainmentTVSci-Fi ShowsDoctor WhoDoctor Who’s groundbreaking Bridgerton episode ‘Rogue’ finally gives us the queer love story fans deserveWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentTVSci-Fi ShowsDoctor WhoDoctor Who’s groundbreaking Bridgerton episode ‘Rogue’ finally gives us the queer love story fans deserveWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: BBC)
Warning - spoilers lie ahead for Doctor Who episode 6 ‘Rogue’.
When the synopsis forDoctor Who’slatest episodearrived online, the BBC teased how itstitular ‘Rogue’ will change the Doctor’s life forever. What we didn’t know then was how Jonathan Groff’s new character would go on to change Doctor Who itself too in ways most welcome and very overdue, especially for the show’s long-standing, sizable queer fandom.
A fast mover
(Image credit: BBC)
This very important line of enquiry is interrupted when he and Rogue stumble across a discarded shoe, which is rather suspicious because people tend to like wearing both of their shoes at once, regardless of whichever era they might find themselves in.
It’s not long before Rogue invites the Doctor onto his ship, which might seem fast to straight people, but it turns out Groff’s character has a hidden agenda. Believing the Doctor to be one of the aliens who are attacking polite society, Rogue tricks him into a trap.
It’s classic rom-com fare, the kind of misunderstanding that makes you root for two potential lovers even more. Except here, the story is about a bounty hunter who suspects a Time Lord of secretly being a shape-shifting bird monster. Richard Curtis this ain’t.
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Can’t get you out of my head
(Image credit: BBC)
But before Rogue sends the Doctor off to prison, they compare tools to the sound of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ - as is per custom in gay society. But is Rogue actually queer? The Doctor seems to suspect as such, mouthing the lyrics, “boy your loving is all I think about” in ways that drive Rogue and bigots back home wild for very different reasons.
Even the Doctor’s psychic paper suggests that this pair have the hots for each other, but Doctor Who has been known to tease us with queerness before, only to skirt around it at the last possible moment.
Even when Rogue is threatening to send the Doctor into exile thinking he’s an evil bird monster, there’s still more chemistry between them than Thirteen and Yaz ever had, unfortunately.
Travelling across the stars
(Image credit: BBC)
One very impressive timey-wimey reveal later, the Doctor takes Rogue onto the TARDIS where it’s discovered that Groff’s character once travelled with someone very special until the day he lost them for good. Note the vague gendering going on here. As they share more of themselves with each other, Rogue and the Doctor grow even closer, both emotionally and physically.
Fans long used to queerbaiting on this and other shows might suspect it’s happening again here. But then something remarkable happens. To shock the audience of the ballroom and distract the aliens, Rogue and the Doctor start to dance together like any other couple would. And it’s not just simply a ruse either. Because when they dance, the world around them fades away until the spotlight is just on them, looking into each other’s eyes as their bodies move in perfect harmony.
When the Doctor asks Rogue to add some drama in order to spice things up for everyone watching, he doesn’t shout or fight. No, Rogue chooses to get down on one knee instead and even presents a ring to the Doctor, as if he’s proposing. Is that the ring Rogue once shared with his former “companion”? Either way, this isn’t a real proposal, but itdoesmean something still.
“Find me”
(Image credit: BBC)
But are we actually going there? Is Doctor Who finally going to confirm the Doctor’s long-standing queerness in a very real and tangible way?
Changed forever
(Image credit: BBC)
It’s not that everyone’s favorite Time Lord hasn’t been established as queer before. Remember when Jack Harkness kissed the Ninth Doctor after they flirted all the time back in 2005’s ‘The Parting of the Ways’? Or more recently when David Tennant’s Doctor felt the need to confirm just how hot Isaac Newton is to Donna? Never mind all the years he took female form or consistently defied typical binary notions as a gender-fluid entity.
The difference this time is that the Doctor’s queerness isn’t just a side note. It’s central to the story now, undeniable in ways that bigots watching back home can no longer refute, no matter how much they might try.
Thankfully, this isn’t the kind of tragic end that gay viewers have sadly gotten used to seeing play out again and again on screen. Even though Rogue and the Doctor have been separated for now, it’s clear that there’s still hope for them, that the impact Rogue made will linger just as the ring still does on the Doctor’s finger.
Because The Doctor is changed now, forever, and so are we.
‘Rogue’ is available to stream now onDisneyPlus internationally and via BBC iPlayer in the UK. Stay up to date with ourDoctor Who release schedule.
For more great new TV, check out our guide tothe best new showscoming your way in 2024.
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