Doctor Who's deaf representation is refreshing – but please Doctor, we'd like some more ...Middle East

Finally, D/deaf representation seems like more than just a TV trend. Following the recent success of groundbreaking BBC thriller Reunion and with crime drama Code of Silence coming soon to ITV, last week's Doctor Who episode The Well was the latest show to include D/deaf representation (and not for the first time either, after its 2015 two-parter Under the Lake/Before the Flood). But is the Doctor up to the challenge? Deaf actress and Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis stars as Aliss Fenley, the sole survivor on planet 6-7-6-7, in what turns out to be a terrifying sequel to David Tennant episode Midnight. Ncuti Gatwa brings his trademark joyous energy to his second season as the Doctor, with compelling new companion Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu. The two join an expedition of soldiers to discover just what killed the mining colony on the diamond planet in this gripping episode, as they encounter an all-too-familiar creature. The surprise in this episode is that the Doctor knows British Sign Language. But then of course he does – he knows a huge number of languages – plus, the TARDIS translates for him. However, it is truly iconic to see the Doctor himself using BSL for the first time in the show’s 60-year history! It’s a brilliant inclusion from writers Russell T Davies and Sharma Angel-Walfall to celebrate BSL being legally recognised as a language in England, Scotland and Wales as of 2022. It is hugely impactful to D/deaf representation to see hearing actors learning BSL and signing alongside their deaf counterparts, as we saw in BBC One’s Reunion. Seeing such a well-known character – an icon in British TV history – signing, will mean so much to a generation of young deaf people, older deaf Doctor Who fans like myself, and all BSL users. When we consider that 1 in 3 people in the UK have some form of hearing loss or deafness, it’s wild that it’s taken the show 60 years to get the Doctor signing – but it's glorious to finally be here. Now we know that BSL is one of the Doctor’s known languages, I wonder if we will see any more signing? Hint hint. We can hope. Rose Ayling-Ellis isn’t the first deaf actor in Doctor Who, or even the first deaf actor to use BSL in Doctor Who (we’ve seen Sophie Stone as Cass in Under the Lake/Before the Flood and Tim Barlow in Destiny of the Daleks), which is unusual compared to many other shows. In The Well, Ayling-Ellis's character uses BSL, her voice and even Sign Supported English, and it’s lovely to see a deaf character choosing to communicate in a variety of ways, which is representative of the range of D/deaf experiences. Ayling-Ellis plays the role superbly and, online, the fans are loving it too. While the character may initially appear to be a victim, there’s so much more to her, and her deafness is woven into the storyline well. Part of the joy of sci-fi is in the futuristic inventions, and here, we see a holographic screen appearing at the touch of a button, which shows live captions of dialogue. These projected captions would certainly come in handy today – a more inclusive version of subtitled glasses seen in theatres and cinemas. We never really see more than one featured deaf actor per storyline on screen, a fact that makes films like Apple TV+’s CODA and BBC’s Reunion so unique. It’s rare for representation to move beyond the one deaf or disabled character storyline. Seeing the Doctor signing, as well as recurring disabled characters in the series such as Ruth Madeley's Shirley Anne Bingham, makes me ache for a little more. We’ve had a female Doctor (hurrah), could we hope for multiple deaf characters on screen at once? There could even be a deaf or disabled companion or... a deaf Doctor, but I might be pushing the Whovians too far with that one. In the meantime, The Well is well-written and has some nice nods to inclusivity, including the Doctor's line: “It doesn’t matter the year, signing still makes some people paranoid.” Ayling-Ellis's character highlighting the moments of ineffective communication for her as a deaf person also felt crucial. I even chuckled at the line: “A nurse who can’t sign? That’s against the law.” The Royal National Institute for Deaf People’s current Access in Healthcare campaign shows just how wildly futuristic this line feels. Having a deaf writer and/or director on this episode could have lifted the representation to a new level, despite Ayling-Ellis having consulted on the script. I watched the episode with subtitles, which covered some of the in-scene projected captions – a shame and something a deaf producer or editor might have picked up on. This Deaf girl's conclusion? It was great TV and good representation – but I’d like a little more, and I hope this is just the start. Doctor Who season 15 continues on 3rd May 2025, coming to BBC iPlayer at 8am and airing at 7:10pm on BBC One. Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

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