10 Best Doctor Who Episodes With LGBTQ Heroes

Doctor Who has always cultivated a big LGBTQ+ fanbase, and it has multiple heroes for members of the community to look up to. There’s Captain Jack Harkness, Yasmin “Yaz” Khan, Rose Noble, the titular Doctor and many more. The show also features diverse talent behind the scenes, too, since the very first director of Doctor Who, Waris Hussein, was a gay man.

Not every episode of modern Doctor Who features a queer character or queer romance, but a very large amount of them do — even if they’re just in the background in some cases. The best of these episodes have strong storylines that give their LGBTQ+ characters a chance to really shine as heroes.

10 ‘Eve of the Daleks’ Features Yaz’s Coming Out

As the Thirteenth Doctor’s era progressed, fans noticed that she and companion Yaz Khan seemed to have more than just a platonic connection. As it turned out, they were right. Yaz confessed her love for the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of “Eve of the Daleks” and thus came out in the process.

“I’ve never told anyone. Not even myself,” Yaz told her fellow companion Dan. But she wouldn’t tell the Thirteenth Doctor how she felt until the next episode, “Legend of the Sea Devils.” Unfortunately, Yaz didn’t get the result that she was hoping for in the end.

9 ‘The Snowmen’ Is a Great Showcase for Madame Vastra and Jenny

In the episode “A Good Man Goes To War,” viewers were introduced to the Victorian era Silurian/human battle couple Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint. Despite not having all that much screen time, people were fascinated by them and their dynamic. Their wish to see more of the couple was granted with the Season 7 Christmas special, “The Snowmen.”

The episode confirmed that Vastra and Jenny were actually married. Vastra introduces herself to a stranger by saying, “Good evening. I’m a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife.” It was great to see that Vastra and Jenny were so comfortable with their relationship despite living in an unforgiving era.

8 ‘The Pilot’ Highlights Bill’s Sexuality From The Start

When Bill made her debut, she had already been announced as Doctor Who’s first lesbian companion. Some fans feared that Bill’s sexuality would be pushed to the background – but their fears were put to rest with “The Pilot”. Bill talks about her attraction to women right from the very first scene.

“The Pilot” also features the first part of the romance Bill strikes up with Heather, a fellow student at the university she works at. Though Heather gets turned into sentient starship fuel, she maintains part of her humanity, and she would later show up to be there for Bill at a crucial point.

7 Jack Harkness Is The Star of ‘The Empty Child’

“The Empty Child” is a very important episode in the LGBTQ+ history of Doctor Who. It introduces Jack Harkness, the first ever confirmed queer character in the show. Jack is charming, charismatic, witty, and very clearly attracted to both men and women.

Jack not only flirts with Rose, but he’s in a relationship with a male RAF officer as well. This was just the beginning of Jack’s time on the show that would see him become one of the most popular queer characters, not just on Doctor Who, but also in his spinoff series, Torchwood. Considering “The Empty Child” aired in 2005, he was one of the first queer characters to set a new standard for the show.

6 ‘The Power of the Doctor’ Deepens the Doctor/Yaz relationship

A lot happens in “The Power of the Doctor,” the final episode of Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor. The Master schemes another deadly plot, two classic era companions return, and the Doctor undergoes three regenerations. But the real heart of the episode comes from Yaz and her love for the woman who changed her life.

There are lots of tender moments between Thirteen and Yaz in this episode, but their relationship cannot be. They end the episode sitting together and eating ice cream on top of the TARDIS, like they were on a first date. Sadly, Yaz doesn’t get a kiss from the Doctor, but she does get to live the rest of her life more sure of who she is and who she loves.

Bill wasn’t in that many episodes, but in every one of them she was a bright and engaging heroine. This is especially true for “The Eaters of Light” where she travels to Roman Scotland with the Doctor, investigating a Roman legion who vanished without trace. Bill meets some Roman soldiers and they end up discussing sexuality.

Bill tells one of the soldiers, Lucius, that she’s only interested in women, a detail she admits to multiple people during the course of Season 10. Lucius explains that he himself is “just ordinary” because he likes both men and women. To him, being bisexual is the default. It’s a fascinating look at how society’s views on sexuality have changed over time.

4 Jenny and Vastra Kiss In ‘Deep Breath’

The first full outing for the Twelfth Doctor, “Deep Breath” features more of Jenny and Madame Vastra, who are their usual flirty selves. At one point, they even kiss, although it’s framed as “sharing breath.” It was the first time in Doctor Who history that an alien-human same-sex kiss had taken place.

The episode also features a lot of Clara, who is revealed to be bisexual after sharing a kiss with famous author Jane Austen offstage. While a queer storyline may not have been the focus of “Deep Breath,” the episode still features three queer heroines, all with their own opinions, personalities and lives outside the Doctor.

3 ‘The Doctor Falls’ Has a Big Kiss Moment

In “The Doctor Falls,” Bill has been converted into a Cyberman, and it’s a fate worse than death for her. She’s at what seems to be the end of her journey, carrying a dying Doctor, when suddenly her old crush Heather appears and puts things right in the manner of a deus ex machina.

After being transformed into sentient fuel, Heather searched the universe for Bill and found her at the time she was needed most. The two of them shared a passionate kiss, and Heather removed Bill’s cyber-conversion by transforming her into sentient fuel as well. Bill and Heather left to travel the universe together. Though a later minisode (“The Best of Days”) indicated they broke up eventually, it was still very sweet.

2 ‘Rogue’ Tells a Sad Romantic Story

The episode “Rogue” placed the Doctor into a sweeping Regency-era romance with alien bounty hunter Rogue. The two of them danced, kissed and held hands. Rogue seemed like the perfect match for the joyful and charismatic Fifteenth Doctor.But despite everything, the two of them didn’t get a happy ending.

Rogue sacrificed himself to stop Ruby — the Doctor’s best friend — from being sent to an alternate dimension along with the villainous Chuldur. All the Doctor had left of him was his ring. While the Doctor may still encounter Rogue again some day, it will most likely take a very long time.

The Doctor caught up with his old companion Donna in the special “The Star Beast” and discovered she had a daughter. This was Rose Noble, and she was Doctor Who’s first major transgender character. Not only that, but her being transgender formed an important part of the resolution of the plot.

Donna’s love for her daughter and her sheer protectiveness of Rose gives an example of how people should treat their trans children in real life. Donna lets Rose be her own person, and makes it clear that if anyone is prejudiced towards her, they will regret it. Rose is now the “niece” of the retired Fourteenth Doctor and looks set to be a recurring character in the show going forward.