Doctor Who used to be famous, nay notorious, for its high proportion of gay fans.

This always brought a certain sophistication to our ranks compared to other sci-fi fans who ranged from safely heteronormative preferences for one-piece uniforms and blowing things up to the more outré Red Dwarf furries (all those cats!) – not to mention those Browncoats.

So, where have Doctor Who’s gay legions all disappeared to? In the opening scene of “The Pilot”, the first episode of the current Series 10 of the revived Doctor Who, fans revelled in the nod to the First Doctor’s era provided by the Out of Order sign on the TARDIS door being in the same font as that seen in “The War Machines” in 1966. A small nod maybe and only to be picked up by old school fans but all the more satisfying for that.

What are we to make then of the fact that whole swathes of fans seemed to miss the Charles Eames chair standing outside the TARDIS, a stylish nod to the one in which the First Doctor is found relaxing in 1965’s “The Rescue”?

Can it be that, in the rush to embrace the technocratic era of internet fandom, 2017 sees a Doctor Who fanbase which can expertly compare print fonts but no longer has any eye for interior decor? Is the introduction of a gay companion in the current series an attempt to reverse this trend among fans towards a lack of taste in design classic furnishings? I think we ought to be told.

(For more on the use of Eames in early Doctor Who, follow this link.)