Doctor Who returned in 2005 with Russell T Davies at the helm and, next month, the series will once again be relaunched with a new season 1.
Ncuti Gatwa, who first played the Doctor in last year's 60th anniversary and Christmas specials, will take centre stage alongside Millie Gibson (who plays his companion, Ruby Sunday), and makes history as the first openly queer Black lead Time Lord.
There's inevitably been backlash to the casting - despite Gatwa stealing the show in his previous appearances - but the Rwandan-born, Scotland-raised actor isn't sweating the haters.
"Do you know what? It makes perfect sense to me," he tells Variety. "I feel like anyone that has a problem with someone who’s not a straight white man playing this character, you’re not really, truly a fan of the show. You’ve not been watching! Because the show is about regeneration, and the Doctor is an alien - why would they only choose to be this sort of person?"
As for what he'd say to the people accusing Doctor Who of going "woke" simply because the franchise now has a diverse lead, Gatwa told the trade, "Don’t watch. Turn off the TV. Go and touch grass, please, for God’s sake."
"I think if you’re 6 years old, you don’t care - not at all," the actor adds. "But nonetheless, as the world darkens - and I do think the world is darkening around queer rights - there is a joy and a celebration, and there’s a community."
"Whether you’re 12 years old and just beginning to work out who you are, 62 years old and you’ve never been who you are, or 61 years old like I am and beginning to worry about where we are in society - there is a hero out there cutting his way through the universe, looking damn good in his suits and doing it with a laugh and a smile."
Davies, who is gay and a trailblazer of LGBTQ television, echoes those sentiments. "They weren’t exactly the straightest men in the past," he says of the Doctor before explaining how Gatwa's version differs from his predecessors. "You’re talking about someone who does have a lightness and a joy about him that, to me, chimes with queer energy.
"It’s very rarely driving the story vehemently, but you will see moments exploring it. We’re not delivering a neutered Doctor."
Gatwa is set to play the Doctor for at least two seasons, but there's already been talk of a third and fourth batch of episodes. We'd imagine he and Russell will then sail off into the sunset together, leading to a regeneration which reinvents the series all over again.
Doctor Who returns with two new episodes on May 10.