Doctor Who: 10 Controversial Moments From The Revived Series

2. Lizard Liaisons

The romantic relationship between Madame Vastra and her maid Jenny Flint is one that has been celebrated since their addition to the show as two of the Doctor's most faithful allies in 2011 but the first psychical representation of their love resulted in over 100 complaints from viewers who felt the image of them kissing was an unacceptable one for the confines of a Saturday teatime drama. In terms of the narrative, the kiss was Vastra's way of keeping Jenny alive as they rapidly ran out of oxygen but one disgusted viewer even went as far as describing the "inappropriate" scene, which took place in the Series 8 premiere Deep Breath, as a "weird lesbian-lizard perv trip" while others took it as an the opportunity to use it as further evidence in their ongoing battle to expose the BBC's "gay agenda". This isn't exactly a new argument, either. The show has been accused of being a tool used by the BBC to promote its active mantra of political correctness for years now, most recently through characters such as Captain Jack Harkness, though what those who spend all their time complaining instead of actually watching the show fail to realise is that Jack is actually omnisexual meaning he'll pretty much give anyone and anything a go. Sometimes they're men, sometimes they're women, and sometimes they're blue (da ba dee da ba) Malmooths from the planet Malcassairo. Chan, do your research, tho. Back to Vasta and Jenny, and surely the fact it was a human kissing a lizard should be the point of most concern? It was always going to cause controversy though, and maybe that's why Steven Moffat wrote it in the first place. It's a discussion which should be actively pursued, anyway, although the majority of the audience in Asia weren't able to join the conversation as the scene was cut from broadcasts in countries including Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia to ensure the episode didn't fall foul of the region's strict decency standards. In that case, they'd better stay away from the fan fiction, too.