Doctor Who 1.7 "Rogue"

This episode was, as a long-time viewer, genuinely shocking in that a rule was broken that the Doctor, as an alien being, doesn't get involved in human romance. This was iron-clad in the original series but has been chipped away gradually with the show's reboot in 2005. The Ninth Doctor got a brief flirtation in "The Doctor Dances", Doctor 10 mooned over Lady Pompadour in "The Lady in The Fireplace". 11 was a little too goofy to be interested in love, but 12 ended up marrying River Song, longtime companion and mother to another longtime companion (timey wimey stuff.) With Jodie Whittaker's arrival as Doctor 13, there were intimations of a same-sex crush with a companion, although the show chose not to develop this relationship very closely. Doctor 14 admitted to Donna Noble he found Isaac Newton "hot" and is shocked by this, although Donna grumbled "It was never very far from the surface, mate." And now Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor, who the actor has publicly stated is a gay character, gets his very own romance story.

The Tardis lands in 1812 England, with Ruby getting whisked away almost immediately to search for "available bachelors" at the Bridgerton-style palace party they arrive at. The Doctor notices an odd signal on his Sonic Screwdriver indicating another time traveler is at the party. He manages to find a lone figure apart from the party, Rogue, played by Jonathan Groff. They banter for a while until Rogue takes the Doctor prisoner. He's a bounty hunter who has landed in this zone looking for shape-shifting aliens he's been promised a huge reward for capturing. He's convinced the Doctor is one of them.

Meanwhile, the aliens move through the party killing random guests. It is explained the aliens saw the TV signals for Bridgerton from deep in space and decided to travel to this time to kill people and take over their likenesses- just because they like doing it. Ruby makes friends with another guest, who finds Ruby's odd slang like "OK" fascinating. 

After the Doctor displays his true self to Rogue and convinces him he's not a bad guy, they hatch a plan to draw the aliens out by doing something shocking, as they are attracted to scandal and controversy. And what could be more scandalous in 1812 than two men dancing? They dance together in a fascinatingly well-choreographed sequence, but then Rogue offers the Doctor his ring and the Doc freaks out and runs off. The aliens eat this up and set their sights on the two as their next victims.

Of course, the Doc's plan works, and the aliens are trapped in a transporter lock which fixes them all in place, unfortunately Ruby is among them as the Doctor mistakenly thought she was taken over by one of the creatures. The Doctor is then faced with the choice of banishing the aliens but losing Ruby forever or causing the extinction of humanity. He finds himself unable to make this choice. Rogue sees this and takes Ruby's place, sending himself into exile along with the aliens, but not before giving the Doctor a parting kiss.

And while the Doctor has been kissed by men before (most notably by Jack Harkness), this is the first time we see a full on romantic-style smooch. There is a palpable chemistry between the two and it would be hard to imagine them not bringing the character back at some undisclosed point in the future.

The episode is filled with great moments (The Doctor's reaction to Rogue's cloaked ship, the display of all his previous lives the Doctor creates when begging for his life, Rogue desperately trying to turn off the Kylie Minogue song in his ship) that make an enjoyable, fun romp as a palate cleanser before the two-part finale coming next week.

No doubt the fan faction who love to yell online about how "woke" the show is now will have a field day screeching about how the Doctor kissed a man. But this is a different, evolved Doctor. He's moved past his traumatic history and left that behind. He's just out to have a good time now. And he just spent an entire incarnation as a woman, so why wouldn't he be attracted to men? For a series that constantly reinvents itself, this is just another step in its evolution. My Grade: A-