I loved the episode as a whole. However, there were elements that didn’t quite work for me, such as the obvious switcheroo at the wedding and the rescue—how would that work with the molecular bonding holding Ruby in place ? On the other hand, I adored the chemistry between the Doctor and Rogue—it was so well played.
In summary: many aspects worked perfectly for me. Some, not so much. Nonetheless, I do think it was an excellent episode. 
Using a Kylie Minogue song when she has also been on the show seems delightfully meta 
How about when he goes with Willy Wonka?
Ach, a reference I don’t get 
Omg I loved that! Never seen Bridgerton and I don’t really care for the aesthetics or needless complexities you get of society of that era, but this was a lot of fun, a solid adventure. I liked thr Chaldur, they had a fun motivation for our monster of the week.
I really liked Rogue, there was instant chemistry between him and the Doctor and it honestly helped this episode feel so fresh. Maybe I now understand why people write fan fiction? 
And seeing the Richard E. Grant Doctor was a massive surprise. I had to rewind that a couple times trying to figure out who it was tbh, lovely to see though! Cushing when??
See, this is what I was thinking throughout the episode too; a certain subset of people are going to absolutely hate this.
The problem is I’m trapped in two minds; there is something liberating and exciting about The Doctor being so obviously gay in this. Queer, MLM, whatever label you want to pin on this particular romance, it is fantastic that it the show is pulling no punches and is very up-front about it. It’s going to piss off a lot of chuds, but also changes nothing fundamental about The Doctor’s character, because The Doctor has always been a queer character, at least since 8 and 9.
And yet. I find myself being left, as a “queer” (I use parentheses because I don’t like how non specific and also corporatized that label has become, but I’m a bisexual man who has experienced MLM relationships) man I found myself left entirely cold by the material content of the romance itself. Romance is already a difficult enough genre to work in effectively. I am an Austen enjoyer, so Bridgerton also leaves me a bit cold as it feels rather a poor approximation, but a lot of people enjoy it and I’m willing to say that it’s a personal thing rather than a matter of objective quality. What could be better then, than crashing Doctor Who into the genre zeitgeist once again? Except here it feels like all zeitgeist and no substance. Having The Doctor as an explicitly gay-coded protagonist in a gay romance is fantastic, but you have to earn that for me way more than they did here, specifically because of who The Doctor is as a character; someone with a rich, long history, who has fallen in love several times throughout the run, each time in specific and believable circumstances. None of that is at play here. The Doctor spots a hottie, wants the hottie, and then in 40 minutes we get, no joke, an enemies to lovers fanfic plot. I have to imagine that this is how the lesbians feel when they watch Thasmin (although at least this time they get to kiss, which I’m sure Thasmin shippers have feelings about) except it doesn’t feel like two rich, real characters developing a romance in a situation. It feels, ironically, like fandom cosplayers smushing their action figures together. As a multi-year Doctor Who tumblr roleplayer, it felt like bad roleplay at times. Thankfully, Ncuti and Jonathan put everything into it (and why wouldn’t you tbh, I’m sure this was much more thrilling to act than it was to watch) but I just felt like I wanted more. It felt like Netflix movie level writing, not to mention having the knock-on effect of sidelining the other cast member of the show, the one we are supposed to be building a relationship with also.
I don’t know about this one. At my kindest of feelings, I love, to the bottom of my heart, that we are at a point in Doctor Who where we can do “What if Girl in the Fireplace but SO gay it has a Kylie Minogue dance sequence” and it’s received as well as it has been. I really love that I’m basically seeing no complaints about this across this site and r/gallifrey. But as a writer, and a reader, it just left me a bit cold. I wanted more from it. Because there are, I think, a lot of things about this script that could easily be used as fuel for homophobes for the wrong reasons, you know? I can imagine the video essays already, and it’s fine to not give them energy, but there’s just something about it I can’t pin down that makes me uncomfortable.
EDIT - to say that there is a lot I like here. People pointing out the string versions of pop songs makes me want to go back and watch because I love needle-drops like that, the whole thing is gorgeous, Ncuti and Millie are dressed like hell, the psychic earrings are a fun new gadge (although why not go all out and do a full wire-fu fight? A man can dream) and the make-up on the birds was astonishing. I’m sure this will get a nom for something down the line. My singular issue is with the writing, which I think unfortunately is bad.
The “Pop covers as classical instrumental songs” was also so Bridgerton. Enjoy:
Interesting points you bring up.
I got to say that I loved the writing of this story, I’ve already done a rewatch With exception of a few too many Bridgerton references and one of the Chuldor looking really out of place (the light blue one), I think that this is basically a perfect example of Doctor Who with a camp flair.
Honestly I think the fact that it is a gay romantic relationship is irrelevant as this really is the level that television romances in a 45-minute timeframe functions regardless of sexual orientation, had it been a Lady Christina-like character the relationship and the story would have played out the same (just with another distraction than a dance probably) Enemies to lovers plots are a tried and true trope unto itself and I thought it fitted the story being told perfectly. And when it comes to believability I find the relationship between The Doctor and Rogue far more believable than I have ever found The Doctor and River Song (apart from Husbands of River Song) and they seeded that for several years, though the Doctor as a character does seem to have a thing for people just on the other side of dangerous 
Out of interest, what makes you think of the 8th and 9th Doctors as being queer? I can sort of see 9 with the way he jokingly banters with Jack, but otherwise it is from 13 and forward I think of the Doctor as a queer character.
What rating would you give this story?
So 8 during his EDA run has been heavily queer-coded. What with him attracting dudes like Alan Turing. There’s the whole subtle but not so subtle implication that him and Fitz have a thing for each other.
I have to contest that this is the base-line of television romance when Russell T Davies himself has shown that he’s capable of inserting more character into a story of this time length. Also, the fact that it’s a gay relationship does matter, extremely. This is the first Doctor played by a gay man, and it’s an onscreen representation of what we’ve known about him as a character. But imagine if Jodie, the first female Doctor, got an episode in her first season where she basically fucks off the main plot to go and get off with a handsome stranger? And then what if that episode was written by two men? That would be kind of icky, right? It didn’t happen, because I think at least Chibnall knew better than that, but when the showrunner is a man who has written multiple realistic and nuanced portrayals of gay romance on screen, it just jars a little to have something so obviously not real. Rogue is a cypher. His character changes the minute the narrative needs it to change so that we can have all of the proscribed emotional beats that it needs to fulfil its purpose, but it has no purpose. It doesn’t tell us any more about who this Doctor is, either as a character or as a queer man, except that he’s basically willing to drop everything for a pretty face. If that’s the characterization they’re going for, they can go for it, but I don’t buy it.
I also didn’t buy River Song until 11 regenerated into 12. That whole plot is my least favourite element of Matt Smith’s run, but I LOVE Husbands Of River Song because it pulled the story around, made it make sense, and made it feel earned. That’s why the long game pays off and it’s very tricky to write a whirlwind 45 minute romance for The Doctor. It’s also probably why you shouldn’t, especially not for your first attempt with the character.
Nine iirc kissed Jack onscreen and for Eight I am literally going on vibes alone, but 12 also says Time Lords are kind of over the concept of gender so I have to weld sexuality onto that too. I think The Doctor is an inherently queer character.
I gave it a 2/5. Might push it to a 2.5 but this is down there with Space Babies for me.
Ah I haven’t read the EDAs, but will probably get around to them at some point 
Personally I think that every Doctor is queer, but especially with 9 forward there’s a lot of queer subtext (particularly with 9 and Jack, but also with the other Doctors), haven’t read/listened to enough of 8’s EU stuff to really comment much there. Though I do think that 13 is the first one that I’d say is really like explicitly textually queer.
Scene from Interference, art from here!
Just clarifying here, I didn’t say that gay representation doesn’t matter just that I don’t think that the nature of the romance as written would be different if Rogue had been a woman.
It’s OK, I don’t think you’re being homophobic and that isn’t my argument in the slightest, but the romance would be written different if it were between a man and a woman. There is a reason that this is a gay romance, and that has an impact on the text itself. The fact that it’s written mostly like poor straight romance is my main issue with it. The closest we get is the walk to the spaceship where they are quite clearly trying to puzzle each other out, which is about as gay-coded an interaction as they get before we fast forward to cattily criticizing the layout of his spaceship (because of course there’s always one very neat gay and one very slobby gay) and, well, gyrating his hips to Kylie. Yes, fair, these are fun moments, but it also doesn’t feel like it’s written from a gay perspective. It feels female gazey, to a certain extent.
Actually now you’ve said it, I 100% agree - it feels like a m/m fanfiction written by a woman. Which is a fine thing to be! But that is definitely the vibe of it.
I don’t think I’m fully convinced by the romance either, but more because I’m very in the ‘I like my Doctor to be aroace’ camp rather than hating it or whatever. But Groff and Gatwa absolutely sold it to me despite the plot being a bit wobbly, for me
I should say that some of the best m/m fanfic I’ve read, and pretty much all of the great fanfic that I’ve read, has also been written by women, and that those online communities were also basically built on the back of incredibly cool weird girls and queer boys, myself included. If it sounds like I’m denigrating them with my comments, I’m not. What I am saying is that even the best internet fiction should still go through quite a few passes before it hits a show like Doctor Who, especially when your showrunner is one of the great writers of gay fiction in our time.
Right that makes perfect sense what you wrote there. Also as I wrote somewhere above, romance is not a genre I really tend to watch and read so that might also paint my view. I always love to read the perspectives of others. And I am a 38 year old man who have been in a relationship with my wife for almost 22 years, so I also suppose my viewpoint is a bit limited by that
Hmm, it could be interesting to have this novelised by a gay man then to expand upon the romance aspect then 
