In a powerful speech at London Trans+ Pride on July 9, trans actress and activist Yasmin Finney confirmed that her Doctor Who character Rose is a young transwoman.
The 18-year-old actress soared to fame after appearing in the Netflix series Heartstopper, in which she plays a trans girl Elle Argent.
And now she is cast as Rose, likely Donna Noble’s teenage daughter, as part of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials to air in 2023.
A big wave from Yasmin Finney! pic.twitter.com/V7iNlhtVX9
— Max Kashevsky (@MaxKashevsky) May 17, 2022
The actress called out the Conservative government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson (who resigned on July 7) for constantly putting roadblocks in the way of changing gender, making the process longer and more arduous.
Finney asked the crowd: “How many of you have seen Doctor Who? Yeah, because that is also a moment and that is also a show where my character is trans so, Boris, I hope you see Heartstopper, I hope you see Doctor Who, because I exist, and I know you know I exist. We all exist, and we’re not going anywhere! Period.”
“I love this so much. This is my first London Trans Pride: I feel so connected to my community more than ever. If the government is trying to eradicate us, we’re all here and we’re just duplicating.” – #heartstopper‘s incredible Yasmin Finney (@yazdemand) at #LondonTransPride 😍 pic.twitter.com/c5vVTikKu7
— PinkNews (@PinkNews) July 9, 2022
In what is likely to be three specials according to the location filming slates, Doctor Who 60th anniversary content will air 2023 under the direction of showrunner Russell T Davies.