Doctor Who and Gay Male Fandom: A Queer(ed) Transmedia Franchise

Doctor Who is a BBC transmedia franchise that has lasted over sixty years. Its fanbase boasts a substantial following of gay men. This book asks why this should be.

Through examining four core components - the Doctor, the TARDIS, the companion and the Daleks - this book traces the trajectory of queerness from wider culture to paratextual media and finally into the parent text, resulting in an inclusive brand. In doing so, it argues that fandom provides a space to mediate between personal identities and the wider world. Drawing from interviews with fans, the book demonstrates the complexities and contradictions of queerness, and proposes an alternative theory of gay cultural formation.

This is the first book-length study to use queer theory to understand Doctor Who. It will be of interest to students and teachers of media theory and fan studies, psychosocial studies, queer theory and history, as well as Doctor Who fans.

Mike Stack is currently an independent scholar. He previously authored The Black Archive #68: The Happiness Patrol, (Obverse Books, 2023), as well as pieces on Arthur C. Clarke, The Tomorrow People, and the science of sex within Doctor Who.