New 'Doctor Who' podcast will be 'very gay, very trans': BBC

The BBC is set to launch a 10-part audio version of the classic science fiction show "Doctor Who" on April 17, and the show's producer wants everybody to know that the spin-off podcast will be "very gay, very trans." The series will be known as "Doctor Who: Redacted" and will premiere on BBC Sounds.

According to the New York Daily News, the anticipated show "promises to give 'Doctor Who' fans action-packed adventures that have been 'left' from the long-running television series, according to a news release."

"I can finally announce this!!!!! I produced and directed a very gay, very trans, OFFICIAL @bbcdoctorwho fiction podcast and it comes out next Sunday," said the show's director and producer Ella Watts on Instagram and Twitter.

The show's "diversity and regionality" are also lauded by its lead writer, Juno Dawson, who is transgender and has released a book entitled "This Book is Gay."

"Doctor Who was my first love, and it’s an absolute thrill to add to the ever-expanding mythology in podcast form for the first time ever," Dawson said in a statement to the media. "What a total privilege to write for something so beloved, and put my own little flag on the landscape."

Dawson also said that the program will explore "the relationships between ordinary people unknowingly immersed in the 'Doctor Who' universe."

Charlie Craggs, another transgender person who is cast as the lead in the series, commented:  "There are no words to express how huge it is, and how grateful I am, being a trans actress playing the lead role in something so special, but more so how significant the fact that my character is trans, and the lead role, too."

"This is a huge step for the trans community, and I'm so honored to be part of this moment," the trans activist and actor starring in the audio drama added.