Name: Rose.
Age: 18.
Appearance: Yeah, about that …
What do you mean? Everyone knows what Rose looks like. You’re going to say she looks like Billie Piper, aren’t you?
Well, yes. Because Piper played Rose on Doctor Who between 2005 and 2013?
Yes. It’s sound logic, but I’m afraid you’re wrong. Rose, in fact, looks exactly like Yasmin Finney from Netflix’s Heartstopper.
No, she doesn’t. I just looked it up on the internet and everything. You’re right in that Piper doesn’t look anything like Finney. Piper is a 39-year-old white woman, while Finney is a black, trans 18-year-old. It would be hard to confuse the two.
Good, so I’m right. Well, no, because Rose looks like Finney now.
Are you deliberately trying to melt my brain? It’s OK that you’re confused. When it comes to Doctor Who, it seems as if nobody really knows what’s going on any more. First Ncuti Gatwa was named as the new Doctor. But then, a couple of days later, it was announced that David Tennant would also be playing the Doctor again. And now it turns out that Finney is going to play Rose. But then again, this is Doctor Who. Haven’t you heard of regeneration?
Why is this happening? Because Russell T Davies is back in charge and seems determined to mix things up as much as possible, that’s why. Footage from the set released this week revealed that Bernard Cribbins is making a return to the show as well.
As Wilf? That would be the logical answer, yes, so in reality we should probably brace ourselves to see him play a Dalek, or a Cyberman, or a sentient manifestation of the moon, or whatever.
I don’t like the sound of any of this? Why not?
A black Doctor? A trans Rose? This is political correctness gone mad. You’re right. There is no way on earth that a shapeshifting ancient alien god and an interdimensional explorer trapped in a parallel dimension should be played by anything other than a white British guy and the woman from I Hate Suzie respectively.
This isn’t the Doctor Who I am used to. But it is. The transgender actor Bethany Black had a role on Doctor Who in 2015. In an episode in 2006, Jack Harkness said that he had a trans co-worker. If you factor in the audio episodes, you’ll find yourself inundated with trans characters, actors and writers.
Wait, so I’m the one who’s wrong? Exactly right. Stop watching. The rest of us will have a blast.
Do say: “It’s great that Rose is being played by a trans woman.”
Don’t say: “Oh God, does this mean I have to start watching Doctor Who again?”
• This article was amended on 18 May 2022. Yasmin Finney is playing a character called Rose; not Rose Tyler.
