Neil Patrick Harris has described meeting Ncuti Gatwa during shooting of the latest season of Doctor Who.

“I got to meet and interact with him a bit and he’s glorious,” he said in an interview with Variety. “He’ll be the first gay Doctor, which is going to be super cool, a sexier Doctor.”

If what Patrick Harris says is true, this is the first time in the show’s history that the sexual orientation of The Doctor has been mentioned explicitly.

Some previous male incarnations were shown kissing female characters and the 11th Doctor married female character River Song in The Wedding of River Song.

This isn’t the first time the Doctor has been rumoured to be LGBTQ+.

A previous storyline included a mutual attraction between the 13th Doctor, portrayed by Jodie Whittaker, and her companion, Yaz Khan (Mandip Gill).

Fans are waiting expectantly to see if the centenary special airing in October 2022 will deliver a Doctor/Yaz romance.

Patrick Harris is rumoured to star in the classic Doctor Who role of The Toymaker, previously portrayed by Michael Gough.

Written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone, The Doctor Who BBC centenary special will air in October 2022.

The fourteenth season, written and produced by Russell T Davies, will air in 2023.