welcome to the Queerest Doctor Who Episode Poll Bracket!
submissions are closed
list of episodes is here
rules:
must be an episode of doctor who. no spinoffs or EU!
use your own discretion to determine what you consider to be a queer episode. is it centred around a queer romance? is one of the main characters of the episode queer? does it just feel queer?
submissions are closed, but feel free to send in additional propaganda for episodes that are still in the running
round 2 begins 12th august 2025
this is my first time doing a bracket please be nice
Ace and Shou Yuing have incredible chemistry, bonding over their shared love of explosives, openly flirt, and are extremely physically affectionate towards each other, to the point where the Doctor himself picks up their attraction to each other. Shou Yuing avoids a military evacuation, even after what appears to be several deaths and despite having no experience in dangerous situations, purely so she can stay with Ace. At one point they sneak into the inn's hallway together then burst out when the inn starts shaking, and it's entirely plausible they were making out there. It's so obvious that
Quotes from the novelisation:
Shou Yuing helped herself to more of Ace's crisps.
Shou Yuing couldn't figure Ace out. The teenager defied all attempts at social type categorising that Shou Yuing's amateur psychology could throw up. The clothes and the attitude were all wrong. The vernacular was bizarre. This one has problems, she thought, and liked Ace even better.
Ace never stopped talking. She treated Shou Yuing like a soulmate who she hadn't seen for years.
Ace could only be categorized as an embryonic anarchist, yet Shou Yuing was certain there was not an ounce of malice in her.
Ace threw Shou Yuing a look of sympathy. She knew what it was like trying to keep up with the Doctor.
The Doctor had packed Ace and Shou Yuing out of the way of any talk of combat. Although he suspected they would be saying something very unladylike to a couple of squaddies who had been eyeing them up.
"Gordon Bennett!" suggested Ace.
Shou Yuing giggled with excitement. "Wicked," she said.
[Ace] flipped the Doctor's hat up her arm and on to her head the way she'd seen him do it. "And if he really is Merlin... You know what that makes me, don't you?"
Shou Yuing giggled and shook her head. Ace lifted Excalibur and held it out like a wand.
"The sorcerer's apprentice," she cried.
Ace tumbled forwards and they clung to each other at the centre of the pool of light.
Shou Yuing clung to [Ace's] leg in fright.
Ace flung herself over Shou Yuing as protection from the blast.
A pile of debris shifted and fell apart. At the bottom of it, beneath the coffee table that had sheltered them, crouched Shou Yuing and Ace.
In the serial itself:
Their first impressions of each other:
SHOU YUING: Vodka and coke, Pat.
DOCTOR: Glass of water, please. Ace?
ACE: Oh, vodka and - DOCTOR: Ace?
ACE: Lemonade, please.
SHOU YUING: Good choice.
ACE: Lemonade?
SHOU YUING: Anything but the beer.
SHOU YUING: Can't see it myself, all that patient scraping about. You know, I get the urge to bung half a kilo of TNT down the hole and bring it all up in one go.
ACE: Now you're talking!
ACE: You could use something with more brisance.
SHOU YUING: More brisance? Than trinitrotoluene? Like what?
ACE: Tell you outside.
SHOU YUING: Why outside?
ACE: He gets upset when I talk about explosives.
Ace sharing the story of how she blew up her school's art room:
Confused in unity while talking to Ancelyn:
Bursting out of a hallway together after sneaking off earlier:
After Shou Yuing escapes the evacuation order:
Teasing the Doctor about his car:
ACE: Naught to sixty in twenty minutes.
SHOU YUING: As fast as that?
And quickly changing their opinions:
ACE: Gordon Bennett.
SHOU YUING: Wicked.
In the chalk circle as protection from Morgana:
And their happy ending at the end of the episode, driving off in Bessie along with Doris and Bambera:
(photo collage by @venndaai)
The End of Time:
The End of Time part 1/2 focus on the Doctor/Master relationship, which is pretty gay all the time, and the End of Time part 2 features Jack Harkness in an alien gay bar getting a drink with another man
Ace and Shou Yuing have incredible chemistry, bonding over their shared love of explosives, openly flirt, and are extremely physically affectionate towards each other, to the point where the Doctor himself picks up their attraction to each other. Shou Yuing avoids a military evacuation, even after what appears to be several deaths and despite having no experience in dangerous situations, purely so she can stay with Ace. At one point they sneak into the inn's hallway together then burst out when the inn starts shaking, and it's entirely plausible they were making out there. It's so obvious that
Quotes from the novelisation:
Shou Yuing helped herself to more of Ace's crisps.
Shou Yuing couldn't figure Ace out. The teenager defied all attempts at social type categorising that Shou Yuing's amateur psychology could throw up. The clothes and the attitude were all wrong. The vernacular was bizarre. This one has problems, she thought, and liked Ace even better.
Ace never stopped talking. She treated Shou Yuing like a soulmate who she hadn't seen for years.
Ace could only be categorized as an embryonic anarchist, yet Shou Yuing was certain there was not an ounce of malice in her.
Ace threw Shou Yuing a look of sympathy. She knew what it was like trying to keep up with the Doctor.
The Doctor had packed Ace and Shou Yuing out of the way of any talk of combat. Although he suspected they would be saying something very unladylike to a couple of squaddies who had been eyeing them up.
"Gordon Bennett!" suggested Ace.
Shou Yuing giggled with excitement. "Wicked," she said.
[Ace] flipped the Doctor's hat up her arm and on to her head the way she'd seen him do it. "And if he really is Merlin... You know what that makes me, don't you?"
Shou Yuing giggled and shook her head. Ace lifted Excalibur and held it out like a wand.
"The sorcerer's apprentice," she cried.
Ace tumbled forwards and they clung to each other at the centre of the pool of light.
Shou Yuing clung to [Ace's] leg in fright.
Ace flung herself over Shou Yuing as protection from the blast.
A pile of debris shifted and fell apart. At the bottom of it, beneath the coffee table that had sheltered them, crouched Shou Yuing and Ace.
In the serial itself:
Their first impressions of each other:
SHOU YUING: Vodka and coke, Pat.
DOCTOR: Glass of water, please. Ace?
ACE: Oh, vodka and - DOCTOR: Ace?
ACE: Lemonade, please.
SHOU YUING: Good choice.
ACE: Lemonade?
SHOU YUING: Anything but the beer.
SHOU YUING: Can't see it myself, all that patient scraping about. You know, I get the urge to bung half a kilo of TNT down the hole and bring it all up in one go.
ACE: Now you're talking!
ACE: You could use something with more brisance.
SHOU YUING: More brisance? Than trinitrotoluene? Like what?
ACE: Tell you outside.
SHOU YUING: Why outside?
ACE: He gets upset when I talk about explosives.
Ace sharing the story of how she blew up her school's art room:
Confused in unity while talking to Ancelyn:
Bursting out of a hallway together after sneaking off earlier:
After Shou Yuing escapes the evacuation order:
Teasing the Doctor about his car:
ACE: Naught to sixty in twenty minutes.
SHOU YUING: As fast as that?
And quickly changing their opinions:
ACE: Gordon Bennett.
SHOU YUING: Wicked.
In the chalk circle as protection from Morgana:
And their happy ending at the end of the episode, driving off in Bessie along with Doris and Bambera:
(photo collage by @venndaai)
The End of Time:
The End of Time part 1/2 focus on the Doctor/Master relationship, which is pretty gay all the time, and the End of Time part 2 features Jack Harkness in an alien gay bar getting a drink with another man
Additionally, the Great Intelligence is played by Richard E Grant, who previously played an alternate version of the Ninth Doctor in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where, after the Master's death, he built him an android body, made him his companion, and lived with him in the TARDIS. Their relationship has been happily acknowledged by the webcast's writer for its heavy gay undertones.
The End of Time:
The End of Time part 1/2 focus on the Doctor/Master relationship, which is pretty gay all the time, and the End of Time part 2 features Jack Harkness in an alien gay bar getting a drink with another man
in the climax of the episode when it seems that all hope is lost, bill’s love interest from her very first episode, heather, comes back to save the day, sharing a passionate kiss with bill, turning her into sentient oil just like herself, and helping her rescue the doctor before they both travel off into the stars together
additionally, see this post by @transtwelvetruther !
Battlefield:
Ace and Shou Yuing have incredible chemistry, bonding over their shared love of explosives, openly flirt, and are extremely physically affectionate towards each other. Shou Yuing avoids a military evacuation, even after what appears to be several deaths and despite having no experience in dangerous situations, purely so she can stay with Ace. At one point they sneak into the inn's hallway together then burst out when the inn starts shaking, and it's entirely plausible they were making out there.
Quotes from the novelisation:
Shou Yuing helped herself to more of Ace's crisps.
Shou Yuing couldn't figure Ace out. The teenager defied all attempts at social type categorising that Shou Yuing's amateur psychology could throw up. The clothes and the attitude were all wrong. The vernacular was bizarre. This one has problems, she thought, and liked Ace even better.
Ace never stopped talking. She treated Shou Yuing like a soulmate who she hadn't seen for years.
Ace could only be categorized as an embryonic anarchist, yet Shou Yuing was certain there was not an ounce of malice in her.
Ace threw Shou Yuing a look of sympathy. She knew what it was like trying to keep up with the Doctor.
The Doctor had packed Ace and Shou Yuing out of the way of any talk of combat. Although he suspected they would be saying something very unladylike to a couple of squaddies who had been eyeing them up.
"Gordon Bennett!" suggested Ace. Shou Yuing giggled with excitement.
"Wicked," she said.
[Ace] flipped the Doctor's hat up her arm and on to her head the way she'd seen him do it. "And if he really is Merlin... You know what that makes me, don't you?"
Shou Yuing giggled and shook her head.
Ace lifted Excalibur and held it out like a wand. "The sorcerer's apprentice," she cried.
Ace tumbled forwards and they clung to each other at the centre of the pool of light.
Shou Yuing clung to [Ace's] leg in fright.
Ace flung herself over Shou Yuing as protection from the blast.
A pile of debris shifted and fell apart. At the bottom of it, beneath the coffee table that had sheltered them, crouched Shou Yuing and Ace.
In the serial itself:
Their first ever meeting:
And in chronological order from thereon out:
SHOU YUING: Vodka and coke, Pat.
DOCTOR: Glass of water, please. Ace?
ACE: Oh, vodka and -
DOCTOR: Ace?
ACE: Lemonade, please.
SHOU YUING: Good choice.
ACE: Lemonade?
SHOU YUING: Anything but the beer.
SHOU YUING: Can't see it myself, all that patient scraping about. You know, I get the urge to bung half a kilo of TNT down the hole and bring it all up in one go.
ACE: Now you're talking!
ACE: You could use something with more brisance.
SHOU YUING: More brisance? Than trinitrotoluene? Like what?
ACE: Tell you outside.
SHOU YUING: Why outside?
ACE: He gets upset when I talk about explosives.
ACE: Well, it was obvious I was never going to be the world's greatest artist. Anyway, Mrs Parkinson the art teacher asked me what it is, right, so I told her it was a lump of school plasticine. Well, I couldn't tell her what it really was.
SHOU YUING: The home made gelignite.
ACE: So, we're in the school corridor by now and Mrs Parkinson asks me to put what she thinks is school plasticine back in the art room.
SHOU YUING: So what did you do?
ACE: I tossed it over my shoulder, like that. Landed right in the middle of class one C's prize winning pottery pig collection. And boom!
SHOU YUING: Boom?
ACE: Boom!
Confused while talking to Ancelyn:
Bursting out of a hallway together after sneaking off earlier:
After Shou Yuing escapes the evacuation order:
Teasing the Doctor about his car:
ACE: Naught to sixty in twenty minutes.
SHOU YUING: As fast as that?
Additionally, the Great Intelligence is played by Richard E Grant, who previously played an alternate version of the Ninth Doctor in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where, after the Master's death, he built him an android body, made him his companion, and lived with him in the TARDIS. Their relationship has been happily acknowledged by the webcast's writer for its heavy gay undertones.
The End of Time:
The End of Time part 1/2 focus on the Doctor/Master relationship, which is pretty gay all the time, and the End of Time part 2 features Jack Harkness in an alien gay bar getting a drink with another man
in the climax of the episode when it seems that all hope is lost, bill’s love interest from her very first episode, heather, comes back to save the day, sharing a passionate kiss with bill, turning her into sentient oil just like herself, and helping her rescue the doctor before they both travel off into the stars together
additionally, see this post by @transtwelvetruther !
Battlefield:
Ace and Shou Yuing have incredible chemistry, bonding over their shared love of explosives, openly flirt, and are extremely physically affectionate towards each other. Shou Yuing avoids a military evacuation, even after what appears to be several deaths and despite having no experience in dangerous situations, purely so she can stay with Ace. At one point they sneak into the inn's hallway together then burst out when the inn starts shaking, and it's entirely plausible they were making out there.
Quotes from the novelisation:
Shou Yuing helped herself to more of Ace's crisps.
Shou Yuing couldn't figure Ace out. The teenager defied all attempts at social type categorising that Shou Yuing's amateur psychology could throw up. The clothes and the attitude were all wrong. The vernacular was bizarre. This one has problems, she thought, and liked Ace even better.
Ace never stopped talking. She treated Shou Yuing like a soulmate who she hadn't seen for years.
Ace could only be categorized as an embryonic anarchist, yet Shou Yuing was certain there was not an ounce of malice in her.
Ace threw Shou Yuing a look of sympathy. She knew what it was like trying to keep up with the Doctor.
The Doctor had packed Ace and Shou Yuing out of the way of any talk of combat. Although he suspected they would be saying something very unladylike to a couple of squaddies who had been eyeing them up.
"Gordon Bennett!" suggested Ace. Shou Yuing giggled with excitement.
"Wicked," she said.
[Ace] flipped the Doctor's hat up her arm and on to her head the way she'd seen him do it. "And if he really is Merlin... You know what that makes me, don't you?"
Shou Yuing giggled and shook her head.
Ace lifted Excalibur and held it out like a wand. "The sorcerer's apprentice," she cried.
Ace tumbled forwards and they clung to each other at the centre of the pool of light.
Shou Yuing clung to [Ace's] leg in fright.
Ace flung herself over Shou Yuing as protection from the blast.
A pile of debris shifted and fell apart. At the bottom of it, beneath the coffee table that had sheltered them, crouched Shou Yuing and Ace.
In the serial itself:
Their first ever meeting:
And in chronological order from thereon out:
SHOU YUING: Vodka and coke, Pat.
DOCTOR: Glass of water, please. Ace?
ACE: Oh, vodka and -
DOCTOR: Ace?
ACE: Lemonade, please.
SHOU YUING: Good choice.
ACE: Lemonade?
SHOU YUING: Anything but the beer.
SHOU YUING: Can't see it myself, all that patient scraping about. You know, I get the urge to bung half a kilo of TNT down the hole and bring it all up in one go.
ACE: Now you're talking!
ACE: You could use something with more brisance.
SHOU YUING: More brisance? Than trinitrotoluene? Like what?
ACE: Tell you outside.
SHOU YUING: Why outside?
ACE: He gets upset when I talk about explosives.
ACE: Well, it was obvious I was never going to be the world's greatest artist. Anyway, Mrs Parkinson the art teacher asked me what it is, right, so I told her it was a lump of school plasticine. Well, I couldn't tell her what it really was.
SHOU YUING: The home made gelignite.
ACE: So, we're in the school corridor by now and Mrs Parkinson asks me to put what she thinks is school plasticine back in the art room.
SHOU YUING: So what did you do?
ACE: I tossed it over my shoulder, like that. Landed right in the middle of class one C's prize winning pottery pig collection. And boom!
SHOU YUING: Boom?
ACE: Boom!
Confused while talking to Ancelyn:
Bursting out of a hallway together after sneaking off earlier:
After Shou Yuing escapes the evacuation order:
Teasing the Doctor about his car:
ACE: Naught to sixty in twenty minutes.
SHOU YUING: As fast as that?
The End of Time part 1/2 focus on the Doctor/Master relationship, which is pretty gay all the time, and the End of Time part 2 features Jack Harkness in an alien gay bar getting a drink with another man
Round 3, Match 3: The Snowmen vs Legend of the Sea Devils
Which is the queerer episode of Doctor Who?
The Snowmen
Legend of the Sea Devils
Voting ended onSep 24, 2025
Propaganda under the cut
The Snowmen:
Additionally, the Great Intelligence is played by Richard E Grant, who previously played an alternate version of the Ninth Doctor in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where, after the Master's death, he built him an android body, made him his companion, and lived with him in the TARDIS. Their relationship has been happily acknowledged by the webcast's writer for its heavy gay undertones.
Legend of the Sea Devils:
thirteen and yaz talk about their feelings for each other. after taking yaz to the ocean floor, thirteen asks: “not a bad date, am I?” and later tells yaz that although she doesn't really date, if she was going to, it would be with yaz. ace lesbian icon
Round 3, Match 2: Eve of the Daleks vs Battlefield
Which is the queerer episode of Doctor Who?
Eve of the Daleks
Battlefield
Voting ended onSep 24, 2025
Propaganda under the cut.
Eve of the Daleks:
after three seasons of fans shipping thirteen and yaz, their feelings for each other are finally confirmed. dan encourages yaz to tell the doctor how she feels about her, and yaz admits she hasn't even told herself.
Battlefield:
Ace and Shou Yuing have incredible chemistry, bonding over their shared love of explosives, and are extremely physically affectionate towards each other. In the novelisation Shou Yuing thinks that Ace is treating her like a soulmate she hasn't seen in years, and she also thinks to herself that Ace has problems, 'and liked her even better'.
Shou Yuing avoids a military evacuation, even after what appears to be several deaths and despite having no experience in dangerous situations, purely so she can stay with Ace. The two of them remain very close physically and try to avoid being separated throughout the story.
Quotes from the novelisation:
This one has problems, [Shou Yuing] thought, and liked Ace even better.
Ace never stopped talking. She treated Shou Yuing like a soulmate who she hadn't seen for years.
"Gordon Bennett!" suggested Ace. Shou Yuing giggled with excitement.
"Wicked," she said.
Ace tumbled forwards and they clung to each other at the centre of the pool of light.
Shou Yuing clung to [Ace's] leg in fright.
Ace flung herself over Shou Yuing as protection from the blast.
Their first ever meeting:
And in chronological order from thereon out:
After escaping the evacuation order so they can stay together:
Teasing the Doctor about his car together (then very quickly changing their opinions):
it's a queer story written by queer guest writers starring queer actors. while rogue is not the doctor’s first same-gender love interest by a long shot, it's still a milestone to have an episode focused around the doctor’s gay romance where they get to kiss. also, rogue is just neat.
The lengthy list of queer people involved in the making of the episode episode includes - but is not limited to - Jonathon Groff (Rogue), Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteen), RTD (showrunner), Kate Herron (writer), Briony Redman (writer), Phil Collinson (producer), Peter Hughes (set/props design), and Jack Murphy (choreography).
It also canonises Richard E Grant as the Doctor during the scene in Rogue's ship. Grant played the Doctor in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where he built the Master an android body, made him his companion, and lived with him in the TARDIS. Their relationship has been happily acknowledged by the episode's writer for its heavy gay undertones.
The Doctor Falls:
in the climax of the episode when it seems that all hope is lost, bill’s love interest from her very first episode, heather, comes back to save the day, sharing a passionate kiss with bill, turning her into sentient oil just like herself, and helping her rescue the doctor before they both travel off into the stars together
additionally, see this post by @transtwelvetruther !
The End of Time part 1/2 focus on the Doctor/Master relationship, which is pretty gay all the time, and the End of Time part 2 features Jack Harkness in an alien gay bar getting a drink with another man
Round 3, Match 3: The Snowmen vs Legend of the Sea Devils
Which is the queerer episode of Doctor Who?
The Snowmen
Legend of the Sea Devils
Voting ended onSep 24, 2025
Propaganda under the cut
The Snowmen:
Additionally, the Great Intelligence is played by Richard E Grant, who previously played an alternate version of the Ninth Doctor in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where, after the Master's death, he built him an android body, made him his companion, and lived with him in the TARDIS. Their relationship has been happily acknowledged by the webcast's writer for its heavy gay undertones.
Legend of the Sea Devils:
thirteen and yaz talk about their feelings for each other. after taking yaz to the ocean floor, thirteen asks: “not a bad date, am I?” and later tells yaz that although she doesn't really date, if she was going to, it would be with yaz. ace lesbian icon
Round 3, Match 2: Eve of the Daleks vs Battlefield
Which is the queerer episode of Doctor Who?
Eve of the Daleks
Battlefield
Voting ended onSep 24, 2025
Propaganda under the cut.
Eve of the Daleks:
after three seasons of fans shipping thirteen and yaz, their feelings for each other are finally confirmed. dan encourages yaz to tell the doctor how she feels about her, and yaz admits she hasn't even told herself.
Battlefield:
Ace and Shou Yuing have incredible chemistry, bonding over their shared love of explosives, and are extremely physically affectionate towards each other. In the novelisation Shou Yuing thinks that Ace is treating her like a soulmate she hasn't seen in years, and she also thinks to herself that Ace has problems, 'and liked her even better'.
Shou Yuing avoids a military evacuation, even after what appears to be several deaths and despite having no experience in dangerous situations, purely so she can stay with Ace. The two of them remain very close physically and try to avoid being separated throughout the story.
Quotes from the novelisation:
This one has problems, [Shou Yuing] thought, and liked Ace even better.
Ace never stopped talking. She treated Shou Yuing like a soulmate who she hadn't seen for years.
"Gordon Bennett!" suggested Ace. Shou Yuing giggled with excitement.
"Wicked," she said.
Ace tumbled forwards and they clung to each other at the centre of the pool of light.
Shou Yuing clung to [Ace's] leg in fright.
Ace flung herself over Shou Yuing as protection from the blast.
Their first ever meeting:
And in chronological order from thereon out:
After escaping the evacuation order so they can stay together:
Teasing the Doctor about his car together (then very quickly changing their opinions):
it's a queer story written by queer guest writers starring queer actors. while rogue is not the doctor’s first same-gender love interest by a long shot, it's still a milestone to have an episode focused around the doctor’s gay romance where they get to kiss. also, rogue is just neat.
The lengthy list of queer people involved in the making of the episode episode includes - but is not limited to - Jonathon Groff (Rogue), Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteen), RTD (showrunner), Kate Herron (writer), Briony Redman (writer), Phil Collinson (producer), Peter Hughes (set/props design), and Jack Murphy (choreography).
It also canonises Richard E Grant as the Doctor during the scene in Rogue's ship. Grant played the Doctor in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where he built the Master an android body, made him his companion, and lived with him in the TARDIS. Their relationship has been happily acknowledged by the episode's writer for its heavy gay undertones.
The Doctor Falls:
in the climax of the episode when it seems that all hope is lost, bill’s love interest from her very first episode, heather, comes back to save the day, sharing a passionate kiss with bill, turning her into sentient oil just like herself, and helping her rescue the doctor before they both travel off into the stars together
additionally, see this post by @transtwelvetruther !
