Doctor Who Season 2's latest episode is throwing shade at Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, seemingly comparing her to a right-wing extremist character. Rowling has been accused of transphobia in recent years, going back to 2018 when she liked a tweet that branded trans women as "men in dresses." She most notably opposed the idea of "[throwing] open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman." That is only the tip of the iceberg of her transphobia in recent years, as she also opposed a Scottish bill that would make it easier for people to be recognized as their preferred gender.
The BBC and Disney+ released new stills for Doctor Who Season 2's penultimate episode, "Wish World," the British sci-fi series threw shade at Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling by comparing her to Jonah Hauer-King's extremist Conrad. While showrunner Russell T. Davies is a homosexual man himself and an LGBTQ+ advocate, this marks the first hint at his feelings toward Rowling.
In one of the stills, Conrad is seated and reading from a book called Doctor Who and the Reality War with Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor on the cover, which seems to be taking obvious inspiration from a rather famous fantasy novel.
The Doctor Who book cover is clearly designed to mirror that of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with a near-identical font and layout. As Conrad is a rather despicable villain in Doctor Who who will stop at nothing to push his horrific agendas, writer Russell T. Davies looks to be throwing shade at Rowling.
In "Lucky Day," fans only met Conrad as an extreme conspiracy theorist with some reprehensible morals and agendas. Despite the comparison to the anti-trans Rowling, Doctor Who has yet to hint at Conrad having any directly discriminatory views, but it's easy to see that coming into play in a reality with him in control.
The "Wish World" synopsis teased that the Doctor and Belinda "finally arrive home to find a very different world." It appears Conrad, presumably with the two Ranis' help, is an influential figure and possibly ruler in this twisted reality.
The stills depict his face on propaganda posters, warning citizens, "Don't let your mind wonder." Meanwhile, the extremist antagonist looks to be broadcasting his Doctor Who storytime on TV in UNIT HQ.
Doctor Who Season 2, Episode 7, "Wish World" will come to Disney+ (or BBC iPlayer in the U.K. & Ireland) on Saturday, May 24, at which point fans will finally discover what is going on in Conrad's twisted reality.
Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor and Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra will lead the charge into this new reality alongside Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday, Jemma Redgrave's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and many more familiar faces.
Doctor Who Opposes J.K. Rowling, But She Almost Joined the Show
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies has been a vocal advocate for the whole LGBTQ+ community. As a gay man himself, Davies has been spotlighting queer characters for decades, going back to his 1999 gay comedy Queer as Folk and, more recently, bringing more LGBTQ+ faces to Doctor Who.
Davies also crafted one of Doctor Who's first major transgender characters in 2023, introducing Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble. Beyond her just being the non-binary daughter of Donna Noble, the themes of transgender identity were prevalent in her debut episode, "The Star Beast," as she helped stop the villainous Meep.
Sadly, while Finney was absent from the "Wish World" cast, the BBC confirmed she will be back the following week for the Season 2 finale, "The Reality War."
The Doctor Who boss seemingly hasn't spoken openly about his feelings toward Rowling, but it's easy to imagine they would be far from admiration. That said, former star David Tennant has been an open advocate for trans rights and called for Rowling to "get out of people's way" in opposing them (via The Guardian).
Rowling almost got involved with Doctor Who during Davies' first tenure, however, she "politely declined" an offer to write an episode. The showrunner later pitched a story in which Rowling appeared and The Doctor was sucked into a world of witches and wizards, but the incumbent star David Tennant shut down the idea as it could turn the show into a "spoof" (via The Mirror).
It should be noted that Tennant's opposition to Rowling joining Doctor Who long predates her open displays of transphobia. As such, his reasonings against the special pitch, by all accounts, were seemingly fully creative.
