5. Sexy Shenanigans
Next up is one of the more risqué sources of fandom divide and this one dates all the way back to the Eighth Doctor's first and only televised adventure (excluding The Night of the Doctor, of course) back in 1996. Up until that point the thought of watching the Doctor 'get it on' - so to speak - with one of his companions was as likely as the Daleks actually
achieving world domination but with the titular Time Lord's long overdue return in the ill-fated TV movie, the writers obviously decided that this was the sort of thing that the audience now wanted to see. After all, if the Doctor can't get with the times, who can? It wasn't suddenly full on pornography, of course. Paul McGann's incarnation locked lips with his sidekick Grace Holloway and even though the nature of the kiss was left open (he himself didn't even know what made him do it), it was still far too suggestive for some circles of the Doctor Who community to handle. The Doctor is an alien, of course, and just because he
looks human (and that's not to mention the fact he's now thousands of years old), it doesn't really change the issue that you're effectively getting off with someone from a different planet. The kiss with Grace obviously must have left some sort of lasting impression, though, because he's been setting tongues wagging ever since. In most cases they've just about got away with it through the means of some sciency-wiency explanation. The Ninth Doctor wasn't
really kissing Rose Tyler at the end of Series 1, of course. He was simply absorbing the energies of the time vortex to save her life. Martha Jones? That was a genetic transfer, and as for Kylie Minogue... Ok, well that was an just old Earth Christmas tradition. The point still stands, however, that even though the Doctor is seemingly always kissing one person or another (even Jack Harkness has had a go!), it's rarely fuelled by romance. What's more, it's guaranteed to get people talking (and make the papers - there's no such thing as bad press!) when they include such a clip in a trailer, too. The mere fact he's even kissing anyone is a problem for some fans, though, which is why the issue has been included on this list. Some say that the Doctor should never partake in such behaviour but for others it isn't really a big deal. Besides, there's always Torchwood if you like that sort of thing.
