An episode of Doctor Who featuring a kiss between Fife-raised star Ncuti Gatwa and another man has been cleared by BBC bosses.
Gatwa, whose acting career started at Dunfermline High School, took over the role of The Doctor last year.
He starred alongside actress Millie Gibson in the most recent season of the sci-fi show, which finished airing in June.
The sixth episode, titled Rogue, made history when it featured a kiss between The Doctor and a mysterious bounty hunter played by Jonathan Groff.
Viewer claimed Doctor Who kiss was ‘unsuitable for children’
The BBC previously revealed it had received nearly 170 complaints over the kiss.
One viewer, whose complaint reached the broadcaster’s executive complaints unit (ECU), said the show had featured “sexualised content unsuitable for children in the audience”.
But the ECU said the kiss was at the “mildest end of the spectrum” of sexual innuendo and did not uphold the complaint.
In a report, the ECU said: “A viewer complained that this episode included sexualised content unsuitable for children in the audience.
“The relationship between the Doctor and the character Rogue was presented with inappropriate sexual innuendo and developed at a speed which he thought concerning.
“The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of harm and offence.”
The ECU said the kiss was “likely to go over the heads of children” and defended the “speed” of The Doctor’s romance.
It said: “The ECU considered the sexual innuendo to be towards the mildest end of the spectrum and in any case likely to go over the heads of children, while the development of the relationship served the needs of a fast-moving plot and was unlikely to strike viewers of any age as a model for interpersonal relationships outside this particular fictional context.”
Gatwa first came to Scotland with his family in 1994 in order to escape the ongoing genocide in his home nation of Rwanda.
He was based partly in Fife, where he attended Dunfermline High School.
The Courier previously told how he had suffered racist abuse at the school.
Gatwa also has close ties to Dundee, having earned praise for his performances in plays such as Hecuba and Victoria at Dundee Rep.
The theatre’s artistic director recalled how Gatwa has the “spark, drive and focus” to be a star.
