Doctor Who fans have been given their first look at Jinkx Monsoon as the Doctor’s “most powerful enemy yet” – and the drag queen’s costume seems might just hint at a new direction for the show.
Earlier this month, fans of the sci-fi series and RuPaul’s Drag Race alike (trust me, there’s more crossover than you’d think) were delighted by the announcement that drag queen Jinkx – who identifies as non-binary and uses they/she pronouns – was joining the BBC series.
The US-based performer will star opposite Ncuti Gatwa’s incoming 15th Doctor in the next full series of Doctor Who, which kicks off over Christmas after three special episodes seeing the brief return of fan-favourite Time Lord, David Tennant.
Details about Gatwa’s tenure as the Doctor have been kept tightly under wraps, with the original announcement that Jinkx would have a “major role” in the new series predictably prompting rabid speculation from fans.
Jinkx won Drag Race’s sixth season and the show’s first ever Champion of Champions season, and is widely considered to be one of the show’s strongest contestants ever. A true all-rounder, they never met a challenge they didn’t like (although the same can’t be said for their season six catwalks), and they excelled in both live comedy and singing challenges.
In fact, Jinkx has since gone on to tour the world as a musical comedy act, both with their musical partner Major Scales and fellow Drag Race alum BenDeLaCreme. Having recently made history as the first drag queen to play the role of Matron Mama Morton in Chicago on Broadway, fans wondered if Jinkx would be bringing their musical skill to the Tardis too.
So when the BBC released the first look at Jinkx in costume on Wednesday (19 April) night, the pictures gave away some major clues. From the dramatic eyebrows to the barnet reminiscent of Helena Bonham Carter as Alice in Wonderland’s Red Queen, Jinkx is marked out as a capital V villain. They’re seen sporting a long black cape with a high collar (very Dracula), wearing a white shirt, black waistcoat and black skirt underneath.
But the big hint comes on the lapels of the collar, which are covered with a piano key pattern that also features on the lining of the cape. I can’t say this look would go down too well with Michelle Visage, but it gives off Big Bad Guy Energy. Besides being just a high-fashion version of the piano-print tie loved by your secondary school music teacher, Jinkx’s costume suggests major things are coming for Doctor Who. Fans echoed one thought on social media, with one asking if they would be playing “a musician type villain?”, while another declared: “A MUSICAL VILLAIN FOR DOCTOR WHO.... WELL THIS IS INTERESTING.”
Now, while the last iteration of the Master (Sacha Dhawan) was prone to a bit of dancing, we’ve never seen a full-on musical villain on Doctor Who before. Given the major role Jinkx is going to play in the next series, some other fans have theorised that their character could be a new version of The Rani, a powerful renegade Time Lord played by Kate O’Mara in the Eighties. O’Mara appeared as opposite Tom Baker’s Sixth Doctor in two stories in 1985 and 1987, and was in talks to reprise the character for a Doctor Who audio drama at the time of her death in 2014. Could we be treated to a new, musical version of The Rani?
But whether drag queen Jinkx is playing a returning villain or someone completely new, it’s clear they’re one to be feared. Yes, basically every baddie who joins the Whoniverse is described as the Doctor’s “most powerful enemy yet”. But with so much mystery surrounding the new series and the change in direction Doctor Who is so desperately in need of (yes, I’m still scarred by Chibnall), fans are hopeful exciting things are coming.
Which begs the big question: could we be getting our first ever all-singing, all-dancing Doctor Who episode? If Scrubs, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia can do it, I don’t see why not. Tap dancing in the Tardis? Getting down on Gallifrey? Sign me up…
