The sci-fi show Doctor Who, which streams exclusively on Disney+, has aired its title character’s first gay kiss shortly after Disney CEO Bob Iger told worried investors that the company would dial back its extreme woke messaging.

Ncuti Gatwa, the gay actor who has taken over the role of The Doctor for this latest season of the long-running British sci-fi show (once considered a children’s series), is featured in this week’s episode having a homosexual dalliance with guest star Jonathan Groff (Glee, Mindhunter).

In episode seven of the 2024 season, titled “Rogue,” the time-skipping Doctor materializes in Bath, England, in 1813, where he chases shape-shifting aliens named the Chuldur who steal people’s likeness and their lives. Along the way, The Doctor meets a space bounty hunter who calls himself “Rogue” (Groff) with whom he develops a sexual fascination.

It should probably come as no surprise that Doctor Who has taken this road. This season, the series was taken over by former showrunner Russell T. Davies, who is openly gay (the creator of Showtime’s Queer as Folk) and who promised to bring these sorts of storylines to the show.

During their first meeting, the pair flirt with each other as Rogue threatens to kill The Doctor thinking he is a killer Chuldur. But the pair soon team up to hunt down the creatures killing humans. Rogue also admits to losing his male lover at one point, lending some tragedy to his character.

The pair eventually get close enough to kiss. but it isn’t the first time The Doctor has locked lips with another character. Indeed, in the past The Doctor has had girlfriends and wives. But until now, he has never had a sexual dalliance with a male, although there was an openly gay character, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), first introduced in 2005. As Pink News notes, Harkness gives a goodbye kiss to The Doctor and his female companion in the show’s 2005 season finale.

Aside from the new episode’s (romantic) gay kiss, another scene involves Rogue and The Doctor performing a ballroom dance as the aristocrats in attendance watch them in shock. All this in 1813 Britain. The scene ends with Rogue taking a knee and presenting a ring to The Doctor in a pledge of marriage. Of course, the salacious dance scene was a trap for the Chuldur.

The episode ends with Rogue sacrificing himself while sending the Chuldur into another dimension to save The Doctor’s companion Ruby. Though it seems clear the writers left an out to bring Rogue back if they want.

In 2022, Disney+ announced it would become the “global home” of Doctor Who for viewers outside the U.K. after Disney bought the streaming rights for all of the show’s episodes.

The gay storyline, though, comes only months after Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, promised to dial back the extreme wokeism that has been dogging Disney’s once unassailable reputation as the place for children and family entertainment.

Iger’s memo, though, does not seem to have been relayed downstream to the company’s creatives. Along with Doctor Who, just this month, for instance, Disney’s latest original series The Acolyte has been hailed as the “gayest Star Wars yet,” much to the delight of lesbian showrunner (and former Harvey Weinstein assistant) Leslye Headland. Its main characters are two twins played by “non-binary” actress Amandla Stenberg, conceived by two mothers in a coven of witches.

Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy has boldly insisted that she won’t change direction in response to her critics, despite tanking both the Star Wars brand and Indiana Jones. Recently, she lambasted the franchise’s “male-dominated” fans and declared that Star Wars “storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That’s an easy decision for me.”

Headland also aired the “frustration” she has had over fan complaints. “Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism, or hate speech … I don’t consider a fan,” she said.

The Acolyte has racked up the worst score of all Star Wars series with an embarrassing 28 percent audience score.

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