Trans author Juno Dawson has joined the writing team for Doctor Who’s latest season
Best-selling, award-winning trans author Juno Dawson. (Supplied)
Trans author Juno Dawson is taking her writing into the fifth dimension after joining the team working on Doctor Who’s upcoming season.
The 43-year-old, best known for This Book Is Gay and Mind Your Head, has reportedly joined the writer’s team for the regenerated series of the sci-fi television show alongside showrunner Russell T Davies, Pete McTighe, Inua Ellams, and Sharma Angel-Walfall.
“I started watching Doctor Who with my grandma when I was ten years old in the 1990s,” Juno Dawson said. “From writing fan-fiction for an audience of one, to scripting the best TV show of all time is truly a dream come true. I can’t wait for fans and newcomers to see the new season.”
Alongside her critically acclaimed books, Juno Dawson also writes for the BBC podcast Doctor Who: Redacted, which featured former Doctor Jodie Whittaker and her companions caught in a time-twisting conundrum in which all the people who have met the Doctor have disappeared.
The writer is also working on an adaptation of Eliza Clarke’s novel Penance for Altitude Television.
The news about Dawson follows on from the Doctor Who Christmas special, which saw Derry Girls actress Nicola Coughlan play a woman named Joy, who was described as a “determined woman whose life is changed forever when she meets the Doctor”, in an episode aptly-titled Joy To The World. The storyline sees a hotel chain that gets hold of time travel and capitalises on it to sell stays throughout history.
The much-anticipated latest season of Doctor Who will see Ncuti Gatwa return as the titular timelord.
The 15th series – which has been marketed as ‘season two’ due to production changes and Disney+ acquiring international broadcasting rights for the long-running sci-fi show – will premiere in 2025.
Fan-favourite showrunner Russell T Davies, also known for It’s A Sin and Queer as Folk, will return as showrunner and executive producer under the Bad Wolf production label. He will be joined by co-executive producers Joel Collins, Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner and Jane Traner.
“Doctor Who takes its talent from a glittering galaxy of names, and these extraordinary writers span the skies,” Davies said. “We’ve got old hands, new stars, voice from theatre, radio and literature, the whole works! It’s the most wild and exciting season of Doctor Who yet, and I can’t wait to unleash their brilliant work.”
The show’s 14th season, which saw Gatwa debut as the Doctor, was heavily praised for its LGBTQ+ inclusion, including the debut of classic Doctor Who companion Donna’s trans daughter, Rose, played by Yasmin Finney.
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