"Doctor Who" Star Says “Doctor Woke” Criticism Means Series is Simply Spreading Kindness
by Jake Kanter
April 1, 2025


Varada Sethu, the new star of "Doctor Who", has defended the BBC and Disney+ series against claims it has gone “woke.”

In an interview with the Radio Times, the new companion to Ncuti Gatwa’s Time Lord said that the “woke” barb means the drama is simply doing the right thing in being inclusive.



“There’s been a couple of Doctor Woke [references] or whatever, but I just think we’re doing the right thing if we’re getting comments like that,” Sethu said.

“Woke just means inclusive, progressive and that you care about people. And, as far as I know, the core of Doctor Who is kindness, love and doing the right thing.”



Sethu and Gatwa’s pairing means that two people of color will pilot the Tardis for the first time in "Doctor Who’s" history. “Ncuti was like, ‘Look at us. We get to be in the Tardis. We’re going to piss off so many people’,” she said.

“We really are equals in the way that we interact with each other. Russell [T Davies] wanted someone who can push back and not be in awe of this all-powerful being.”

https://deadline.com/2025/04/doctor-who-varada-sethu-woke-criticism-1236355607/

Russell T. Davies has “No Time” for Critics of "Doctor Who’s" “Wokeness”
by Glenn Garner
April 17, 2025


Russell T. Davies is too busy navigating the rules of space and time to humor critics of his show’s diversity and inclusion.

The "Doctor Who" showrunner, who previously revived the series in 2005, recently addressed criticism of the BBC and Disney+ reboot’s “diversity and wokeness,” after stars Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu defended the show.



“Someone always brings up matters of diversity. And there are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and of involving messages and issues,” said Davies on BBC Radio 2. “And I have no time for this. I don’t have a second to bear [it]. Because what you might call diversity, I just call an open door.”

Although he admitted he doesn’t “know if it’s conscious” to put so much diversity in "Doctor Who" Davies explained, “That’s life, and I think it’s the only way to write.”

https://deadline.com/2025/04/russell-t-davies-no-time-critics-doctor-who-wokeness-1236371365/