"Doctor Who" Boss On Those Stories About Pearl Mackie And Her Character's Sexuality: "The Fuss Stops Now"

At a Q&A for the new series, showrunner Steven Moffat spoke about Pearl Mackie being openly gay and said: "We don't want young kids, who ... happen to fancy their own gender. We don't want them to think that they are some of kind of special case, because that's frightening."

Last week, BBC News featured an interview with new Doctor Who assistant Pearl Mackie, who mentioned that her character was openly gay. It led to this headline:

bbc.co.uk

In the interview she said:

Doctor Who News @News_Doctor_Who

"Yeah, Bill's gay. It shouldn't be a big deal in the 21st Century. It's about time isn't it?" - #PearlMackie, who w… https://t.co/uBgRpqNfcL

06:28 PM - 31 Mar 2017

During a press conference directly following a private screening of the first episode of the new series, Doctor Who showrunner and writer Steven Moffat called the press attention about her sexuality "nonsense."

Jeff Spicer / Getty Images

He said: "To be absolutely honest, Pearl and I and the rest of us, when she did that interview where she happened to mention it, we didn't know that there was going to be all that fuss.

"And in a way, there kind of shouldn't be. That's kind of nonsense. Just to be clear, I've been saying this a lot today, we're not expecting any round of any applause or pat on the back for that. That is the minimum amount of representation that she has on television, and the correct response will be 'What took you so long?...'

We didn't expect all the fuss, so the fuss stops now."

He also remarked on Captain Jack (John Barrowman), who was pansexual, and joked that River Song "was marrying practically everybody."

BBC / Doctor Who / Torchwood

He then addressed the journalists in the room, adding that Mackie's character deserves no special treatment.

"And just now I'm talking to the journalists here, because as you see, there are children here and they are much, much wiser than our generation. They're set in their heads and they're honest and they are like 'What the hell of a fuss are you making? They don't understand. You just did a headline out of someone being a fairly average person. What are you talking about?'

"It is important that we don't make a big fuss about this in a children's show, which communicates directly with children. We don't want young kids, who ... happen to fancy their own gender. We don't want them feel as if they are some of kind of special case, as that's frightening.

"And it's not your job, journalists, to frighten children. It is my job, and I will decide that."

The first episode of the new series itself is a proper relaunch of the show, with completely fresh introductions to get the new viewers in. Here's a trailer of the series:

BBC / youtube.com

Asked whether David Walliams could make a cameo in a future episode, Matt Lucas (who played Nardole) joked: "Not if I have anything to do with it."

And as for Class, the Doctor Who spinoff that reportedly received poor ratings, Moffat said: "Let's hope that they give it another go."

Doctor Who returns on 15 April 2017 on BBC One. It will air on BBC America on the same day.