BBC Shuts Down Transphobic Complaints Against Rose Noble, 'Doctor Who'

The character, portrayed by transgender actress Yasmin Finney, debuted in the 60th anniversary specials

In stark contrast to recent news slants, the BBC has stood its ground and condemned complaints from transphobic bigots toward Yasmin Finney and her recently-introduced Doctor Who character Rose Noble, who called her “inappropriate”.

The British broadcaster posted an update to its complaints responses website that read “As regular viewers of Doctor Who will be aware, the show has and will always continue to proudly celebrate diversity and reflect the world we live in. We are always mindful of the content within our episodes.” This came after they had received 144 bigoted messages following the character’s debut in the first 60th anniversary special “The Star Beast” on November 25. Some of them even ridiculously called it “anti-male”. Of course, it’s a minuscule amount in the grand scheme of even the viewership of shows that can’t quite break a million, but especially amongst 7.6 million that did watch the episode.

Rose Noble is the daughter of Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate and Shaun Temple, played by Karl Collins. While 15, her age did require a little fudging, as her parents don’t meet until 2009. Her family is very supportive of her transition, with Shaun, whose appearances before this in “The End of Time” were rather inconsequential, shown to be chill and willing to go along with whatever might be happening in the chaos of a Doctor adventure, so him having no qualms with a trans daughter fits his character quite well. It’s Donna’s mother Sylvia played by Jacqueline King who is still getting accustomed to it however, and so Donna tells her “You have a kid. You think, good I’ve got it, that’s mine. Then she grows up into this extraordinarily beautiful thing and you think: where the hell did she come from? How lucky am I?”.

Showrunner Russell T. Davies wrote the episode and has spoken openly about Rose, her transness, and the importance of representation and fighting back against trans vilification, such as at a November press conference: “[There are] newspapers of absolute hate, and venom, and destruction, and violence who would rather see that sort of thing wiped off the screen destroyed. Shame on you, and good luck to you in your lonely lives.” On behind the scenes companion series Doctor Who Unleashed, he said: “Homophobia and transphobia happens when it’s something you’ve never seen before. You can temper that reaction and change it when you introduce these images to people happily and normally and calmly when they’re young. Then it just becomes normal.” And on the official Doctor Who podcast, he detailed the decision to acknowledge and reveal Rose’s deadname.

Known for Heartstopper when she was cast, Finney would make another appearance as Rose at the end of the third 60th anniversary special “The Giggle”, and has been confirmed to return again during series 14, or new season 1 if going by iPlayer and Disney+ listings, the respective streamer of Doctor Who in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.

Sources: Deadline, Independent