A constant outsider, trying to fit in to a foreign world, it’s easy to see why Doctor Who has always been an LGBT icon, long before Queer As Folk’s Vince confessed his obsession. To celebrate the launch of her first Doctor Who novel, The Good Doctor, Loverboy talks to LGBT author, Juno Dawson, about her history with the Doctor why it has always been an LGBT show.

When did you first become interested in Doctor Who?
I very dimly remember Doctor Who being on TV when I was little – Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford era. One of my earliest memories was Bonnie trapped in a spinning bubble but I became a proper fan when my grandma used to babysit in the early 90s. BBC2 showed some repeats and I became hooked.

Was the LGBT community something you consciously wanted to include in The Good Doctor?
I think Doctor Who has always championed the underdog. The Doctor always fights for the oppressed. In a way the show has always taught acceptance without exception, but when Russell T Davies took over, some of that subtext came to the forefront. Captain Jack and Bill Potts are revolutionary characters. My novel tackles religious hatred so read into that what you will! This season on TV, Chris Chibnall has a very diverse writer’s room and BBC Books were very keen to get me involved so I think there’s a desire at the BBC to make this show as diverse as possible both in front of the camera and behind it.

Who do you identify with most in The Good Doctor?
I opted to mostly tell this story from the point of view of the Doctor’s new friends because I believe we, as humans, can’t get into the Doctor’s alien head as well. I took a shine to Yaz. As a young muslim watching an alien planet torn apart by racism and religion, I thought hers was an interesting perspective.

Would you say, even before the Russell T Davies days, Doctor Who has been one of the most LGBT, or generally open-minded, shows on TV?
As I said, Doctor Who, Star Trek and Star Wars have always celebrated overcoming oppressive regimes. Even in the 60s’ Star Trek you had a diverse cast, albeit without an openly gay character, trying to make the cosmos more accepting. Doctor Who – although traditionally a very white show – certainly teaches us to spread the love.

Was Torchwood ahead of its time?
I think anything Russell does is ahead of its time. Captain Jack – a handsome, proud, sexually gregarious bisexual was truly innovative. His relationship with Ianto was heartbreaking and I’d liked to have seen him have more sex with women too had the show continued. I think Torchwood slightly struggled to fine its tone on TV but continues as audio plays.

Are the traditional Doctor Who community open to the LGBT storylines or do they feel the show is being used to ‘push an agenda’ etc?
Fuck that noise. Every other show on television ever has promoted heterosexuality as normal since the dawn of the medium. It’s about time diversity was promoted.

Who is your favourite LGBT character in the Doctor Who universe?
Jenny and Vastra are #couplegoals.

What are you working on next?
Clean, my most recent novel, is doing super well so I’m traveling all over Europe to promote it at the moment. I’m off to Italy tomorrow and then Estonia and the Netherlands.

Lastly we are named after Mariah’s song Loverboy. So….what is your favourite Mariah song and why?
‘Fantasy’. What a tune, honestly.