The impact of recent storylines on Doctor Who’s popularity and potential cancellation.

Doctor Who, one of Britain’s most beloved science-fictions shows, now faces ‘extermination’ after its ‘woke’ storylines enraged viewers.

The long-running sci-fi phenomenon, which has a global following of millions, has seen its ratings plummet after fans were left fed up by some of its recent plots.

Fuming ‘Whovians’ were left outraged at the introduction of transgender and non-binary characters who would lash out at people ‘assuming their gender’, as well as a deranged new villain played by a drag queen.

While campaigners have accused bosses behind the BBC series of ‘promoting the cult of gender ideology’ in the latest episodes of time-hopping romp, which is streamed globally thanks to a lucrative deal with Disney thought to be worth £100m.

It comes amid rumours the franchise’s lead star, Ncuti Gatwa, is on the verge of quitting his role as the Time Lord, and that the show could soon be cancelled.  

The Scottish actor, 32, joined the cast in 2023 after Jodie Whittaker bowed out as the Doctor, but it’s rumoured he’s set to walk away from the show after just two seasons.

The recent outing of the Doctor suffered abysmal ratings, with Ncuti’s first series attracting between 2.25million and 3.18million viewers – a tiny fraction of what it used to pull in. 

The slump comes after Russell T Davies returned as showrunner and introduced a string of controversial plots – which included David Tennant’s Doctor realising he was gay after developing a crush on the ‘hot’ Sir Isaac Newton.

Tennant, who stepped back into the Tardis to be the 14th doctor for three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials, made the hint about his sexuality in a comment to Catherine Tate, who returned as his assistant Donna Noble.

In the exchange about Newton – who appears to be of Indian heritage in the show and is played by Nathaniel Curtis – Donna said: ‘Is it just me or was Isaac Newton hot?’

And the Doctor replied: ‘He was, wasn’t he? He was so hot. Oh! Is that who I am now?’

Donna added: ‘Well, it was never too far from the surface, mate. I always thought you…’

In the anniversary special, fans were also introduced to Donna Noble’s transgender daughter, Rose, played by trans actress Yasmin Finney.

The 21-year-old, most recognised for her role as Elle Argent in Heartstopper, scolded Tennant’s Doctor for ‘assuming the gender’ of an alien.

Tennant was called out by Finney’s character for describing a fluffy rat-like creature called Beep The Meep as ‘him’.

Rose lambasted the Doctor’s assumption that the alien was a ‘he’, asking him: ‘You’re assuming he as a pronoun?’

In an exchange dubbed ‘cringe-worthy’ by some viewers, the Doctor then apologised and asked Meep if it was a ‘he or she or they’, to which the creature replied: ‘My chosen pronoun is the definite article. I am always The Meep.’ 

But the scene was slammed by viewers, with the Family Education Trust saying it promoted a ‘cult of gender ideology’ for young people watching the TV show.

Taking to X, the trust raged: ‘The whole episode is dedicated to promoting the cult of gender ideology. Many vulnerable children watch Dr Who – this is dreadful propaganda from the BBC yet again.’

Fans also lamented at the introduction of the screeching, wide-mouthed, ginger-haired non-binary villain, Maestro – played by American drag queen Jinkx Monsoon.

The camp icon, who is seen slithering out of a piano while gurning and laughing maniacally, went viral for correcting another character for using ‘him’ pronouns incorrectly.

In the show, Maestro encounters a man who warns other characters to ‘get away from him’ – to which the villain replies: ‘Them.’

‘What?’ the bemused man then asks. ‘I’m “them”, but my notation is “Maestro”,’ Monsoon’s character then replies, before going on to use musical chords as a weapon. 

However, Whovians were again left groaning at the seeming introduction of gender politics in the long-running sci-fi series. 

‘The Maestro was probably one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. No exaggeration. #RIPDoctorWho,’ wrote one angry viewer on X. 

A second raged: ‘#RIPDoctorWho Wow. Well Dr Who is totally unwatchable now. Maybe have a Dr Who series again instead of a platform for gender politics and radical left wing ideology? Go woke go broke.’

‘The last couple seasons of #DoctorWho were mediocre at best as it begun it’s slide into an #LGBTQ agenda. I noticed there was a new run so I started to watch it only to find it landed, hard in the lgbtq / trans agenda. #RIPDoctorWho,’ a third wrote.

While a fourth simply branded the show ‘trash’. 

And back in 2018, when Jodie Whittaker was the titular Time Lord, fans were introduced to a heavily pregnant man as one of the side characters.

The ‘man’ called Yoss is an alien from a species known as the Gifftans. He reveals that unlike humans, both male and female Gifftans can give birth – when men giving birth to boys and women giving birth to girls. 

Lovers of the show have also lamented at the return of some of the programme’s beloved villains, who have been given a ‘woke’ facelift by showrunner, Russel T Davis.

Davos, the gaunt, disfigured creator of the Daleks, had been forced to use a wheelchair and mobile life support system since his introduction to Doctor Who in 1975. 

But in his 2023 return for a Children In Need special, Davos appeared able-bodied and sporting a new, younger look. 

The decision for the overhaul was made by Davis, who said he disliked the fact Davros was a ‘wheelchair-user who is evil’. 

He said: ‘A lot of us on the production team did too, associating disability with evil.’

But the change left fans unimpressed, with many taking to social to express their frustration.

‘I’d actually much rather they left Davros in the past rather than try and do some re-write of history,’ wrote one person. 

While another added: ‘I guess i see where they’re coming from with “Davros is harmful representation” but I do think it’s incredibly lame they got rid of the forehead eye you should keep that no matter what.’

According to reports, a decision of the show’s future will only be made by bosses once Ncuti’s second series hits screens later this year.

It is thought that Ncuti has already filmed his regeneration exit scene, with crews allegedly fearing that this could spell the end of the series after a whopping 62 years.

A source told The Sun: ‘Ncuti doesn’t want to be tied to the series beyond this and plans to relocate to Los Angeles with several Hollywood projects standing by for him.

‘His team also see a lot of fan backlash from the series, and don’t want the perception of him still being The Doctor to get in the way of any future work.

‘The show has been poorly managed in recent years and there’s a lot of people who’ve been working on this show for years and now being cast aside due to poor leadership.’

The insider added that people had warned that the episodes were becoming ‘too caught up on an agenda’ rather than focusing ‘telling a story’, with those people apparently being ‘shouted down’ and ‘ignored.’

However, a Doctor Who spokesperson added to The Sun: ‘Doctor Who has not been shelved. As we have previously stated, the decision on season 3 will be made after season 2 airs. The deal with Disney+ was for 26 episodes — and exactly half of those still have to transmit.’

Ncuti was the first black actor to take on the leading role as The Doctor, after Jodie made history as the first permanent female Time Lord in 2017.

He became a household name when he starred as gay teenager Eric Effiong in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education.

MailOnline have contacted representatives of BBC and Ncuti for comment.

Doctor Who has been produced by the BBC since 1963 and when it was first released, was intended to be a regular weekly programme aired on Saturday evenings.

It originally ran for 26 seasons from November 23, 1963 to December 6, 1989, it was intended to be an educational show for family viewing to teach its younger audience about history as the Doctor travelled through time with its companions, a history and science teacher.

Back in October, it was said that the future of Doctor Who was in doubt and questions had been raised about whether Ncuti will return for a third series.

The future of the hit sci-fi show may not be so secure after it was revealed that there will be a gap of at least two years following the second outing of the star as the titular character next year.

The extended wait may mean the Scottish actor might not return at all according to The Mirror.

Insiders have told the publication that eyebrows were raised about the programe after a mysterious edit was made to Graham Norton’s BBC One chat show.

During the latest episode, The Sex Education actor revealed he would be filming the third series of Doctor Who next year.

But the comment was edited out when the episode of the chat show was aired.

It comes after Doctor Who producer Russell T Davies previously said ‘no decision’ had been made yet for the line-up of series three in July.

Appearing at Comic Con in San Diego alongside Ncuti and Millie Gibson, the screenwriter spoke about what was in store for the science fiction show.

Russell, 61, admitted decisions about who would star in series three haven’t been made yet as they are still in the middle of filming the second season at the time.

The screenwriter said: ‘We’ve shot season two, but that’s only halfway through. We’ve got all those months of post to come. It’s a long way off, so no decisions yet.’

Doctor Who? All the actors who have played the Time Lord

The BBC’s hit Sci-fi show Doctor Who was first launched by the BBC in 1963. It chronicles the journey of a Time Lord called ‘The Doctor’.

He is first introduced after fleeing his home planet, Gallifrey.

The Doctor travels through time and space in his spaceship, called a TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space), which resembles a police box.

During his travels, The Doctor meets people and invites them to voyage with him. They are known as his companions. 

He also encounters several evil beings, such as Daleks and Cyberman, and is forced to defeat them sing minimal resources, such as his Sonic Screwdriver, as they try to destroy or take over other planets, including Earth.

As a Time Lord, The Doctor has the capacity to regenerate when he is wounded or dying. After regenerating, he takes on a new appearance and personality.

The concept of regenerating was added into the series after the First Doctor, William Hartnell, became ill and stepped down from his role. 

The first run of Doctor Who ended in 1989 before being revived in 2005 with Christopher Ecclestone as the Ninth Doctor. 

Below is the full list of the actors who have been cast as the Doctor from 1963 to 2017 – when Jodie Whittaker took over the coveted role.

Starting the legacy: The First Doctor William Hartnell (1963-1966)

Second and Third: Patrick Troughton (1966–1969) and Jon Pertwee (1970–1974)

Fourth and Fifth: Tom Baker (1974–1981) and Peter Davison (1981–1984)

Sixth and Seventh: Colin Baker (1984–1986) and Sylvester McCoy (1987–1989, 1996)

Eighth and Ninth: Paul McGann (1996) and Christopher Eccleston (2005)

Tenth and Eleventh: David Tennant (2005-2010) and Matt Smith (2010-2013)

Twelfth: Peter Capaldi (2013 – 2017)