Two-time winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Jinkx Monsoon has been cast in what will reportedly be a major role in the upcoming new Doctor Who series.
“I’m honoured, thrilled, and utterly excited to join Doctor Who,” Monsoon wrote in Twitter post. “Russell T Davies is a visionary and a brilliant writer— I can’t wait to get into the weeds with him and the crew! I hope there’s room in the TARDIS for my luggage.” (The TARDIS is the time-traveling spacecraft used in the show.)
Monsoon is set to star alongside Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa as the series’ fifteenth iteration of the title character, a shape-shifting alien who travels through time and space on fantastic adventures, in the long-running British sci-fi show’s upcoming fourteenth season. Gatwa is the first Black actor to take on the role.
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The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you.Original Queer as Folk creator Davies, who revived the series in 2005 after a 16-year hiatus, will return as Doctor Who’s showrunner for the first time since 2010, with three holiday season specials later this year to mark the show’s 60th anniversary. Those episodes will feature actor David Tennant reprising his role as the Doctor while also introducing Gatwa’s version of the character ahead of the fourteenth season, which will premiere next year.
“In a galaxy of comets and supernovas, here comes the biggest star of all,” Davies said of the Drag Race alum. “Jinkx Monsoon is on a collision course with the TARDIS, and Doctor Who will never be the same again!”
Davies has also cast trans Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney in the 60th anniversary specials, while Pete MacHale, the first out trans man to appear in Doctor Who, will star in the 14th season alongside Gatwa.
The high-profile gig follows Monsoon’s sell-out run on Broadway as the first drag queen ever to play Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago.
