Posted in: BBC, Current News, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: doctor who, the war between the land and the sea

Doctor Who: Gemma Redgrave Tackles Speculation Over Kate's Sexuality

Doctor Who fans have speculated about Kate Lethbridge-Stewart's sexuality. Now Gemma Redgrave is offering some insights on the matter.

In the annals of modern Doctor Who fandom, there has been a faction that has assumed and shipped UNIT leader Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Gemma Redgrave) as a lesbian. When the last two seasons of the Disney+ era of Doctor Who hinted at her non-lesbian romance with colleague Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient), they were up in arms, accusing the producers of "straight-washing" her. The War Between the Land and the Sea has gone all-in on confirming that they are in a relationship. The character was originally introduced in a series of professionally-produced fan films featuring original Doctor Who cast members as a divorced single mother.  Gemma Redgrave has now clarified that there was never any discussion of Kate's sexuality.

"I think maybe where it came from was a question that I was asked about how she's a divorcee," Redgrave told The Radio Times. "I learned a great deal about her in an earlier episode "Death in Heaven" just from a few lines – she arrives at work in gardening clothes, she's just come off either the allotment or her garden, and wasn't expecting to be called in, and describes herself as a mother, as a divorcee, a mother of two, and an outstanding bridge player."

"So I knew that she was divorced," continued Redgrave. "And I think I speculated that maybe she was in the same sex relationship. But it wasn't any discussion that I ever had with anybody else. It was just things that I was mulling around about where she was in her life at that particular point."

"I think the conflict for her is the thing that struck me about the relationship…. I don't believe that she thinks [the relationship] has a future because of the age difference, because of the power imbalance – but mainly for the age difference," Redgrave pointed out.

"What we discussed was how differently they both felt about it and that being interesting. It's there in the script, it's there in the episodes that Pete McTighe and Russell T Davies wrote, the deep differences between the way they feel about this relationship and what the future is for both of them."

The Kate-Colonel Ibrahim Romance

Meanwhile, Alexander Devrient said, "There were a lot of little moments that were placed throughout the seasons [of Doctor Who]. And to be honest with you, we weren't even sure, me and Jemma, whether this was going to go any further or not. Initially, we held back a little bit."

"Obviously, there is the hierarchy element, when you work in a sort of context that we work in within UNIT, that's quite important. There's an important age gap. There are various different factors that meant that this is quite a tricky and risky potential relationship.

"But, in the end, I think also with what Russell wrote and how he wrote it, we just thought, 'Okay, we're going to go for it.' These two, there is something behind that element of stoicism and respect and loyalty and discipline, something really pure and beautiful, a connection that they can't really fight against. Let's just go with that and explore what that looks like when you're in the midst of yet another catastrophe."

And then there's the speculation, sparked by Redgrave herself, that Kate might get killed off in The War Between the Land and the Sea. If that happens, fandom reaction should be interesting.

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