‘Doctor Who’ showrunner Steven Moffat thinks the Time Lord’s first openly gay companion has been "too long coming".
Pearl Mackie plays the landmark role in the new series of the sci-fi programme and Steven has insisted he doesn’t want any thanks for the decision to make her character, Bill Potts, gay.
He explained: "I think people would say, ‘Why the hell did you not get around to it earlier?’ – and I would absolutely agree with them."
In fact, Steven revealed Bill’s sexuality is "not a major plot strand" in the show and admitted he was surprised by the amount of attention it had attracted.
He said, according to Digital Spy: "This wasn’t, as some people thought, some kind of press release we made – it was just mentioned by Pearl in an interview. I didn’t even know it was happening. I saw it on the internet!
"It’s not a major plot strand. It’s not even a minor plot strand. It’s just there. She’s not ‘the gay companion’ – she’s Bill Potts. She barely bothers to mention the fact. It only comes up when it’s relevant."
This comes shortly after Steven, 55, said it’s important to not make such a big deal out of Bill being gay, because young people uncertain of their sexuality should feel reassured by programmes like ‘Doctor Who’.
He reflected: "It’s important that we don’t make a fuss about this in a children’s show which talks directly to them.
"We don’t young children who are boring and normal and happen to fancy their own gender, we don’t want to make them feel as though they’re some kind of special case because that’s frightening."
Doctor Who’s first gay companion ‘has been too long coming’
