Who's Going To Play Gay? "Doctor Who," That's Who

Not sure what this is from

Doctor Who returns to American television screens this weekend on BBC America, bringing with it a new Doctor, a new TARDIS, and a new companion. I admit to being on the fence about boyish Matt Smith playing a 900-year-old Time Lord, but having watched the first two episodes, I think he nails it.

As part of the promotional blitz for the show, Matt's been doing a lot of interviews, and in one, he mentions he's using the hiatus to do another role.

It's really different. I can tell you that he's a gay man, the man that I'm going to play. It's really different, and I can't wait to start. But I mostly want to get back into playing Doctor again.

It's hardly the first time a Time Lord has played gay. David Tennant did it in Einstein and Eddington. And of course we have Torchwood's Captain Jack (John Barrowman) as a companion, who will shag anything that will hold still long enough.

Some might say that for a British actor, playing gay is no big deal, but for an American audience, it's still a bit unusual for a new action star to take on a project that could be controversial. That's especially true for a show aimed firmly at the "family friendly" audience . And as we can see from the header picture, it looks as though Mr. Smith may have done it before.

What kind of gay role would you like to see The Doctor take on? Who should play opposite? And why can't he play gay/omnisexual on the show itself? Sound off in the comments!

And thanks to AE reader shawnlunn2002 for the tip!