Drag Race icon Jinkx Monsoon will appear in the new season of Doctor Who. (BBC)
The return of Doctor Who is almost upon us. Ahead of the new season, Russell T Davies has clarified a huge rumour about Jinkx Monsoon’s character.
Showrunner Davies has already laid out what fans can expect for the new season, which will see Ncuti Gatwa stepping into the titular character’s Tardis with an added touch of “queer energy“, as well as importantly discussing race on the series.
Also revealed to be heading up the series is RuPaul’s Drag Race two-time winner Monsoon in her upcoming role as the camp villain Maestro. Not just a pretty face, the star’s character has been confirmed to be “the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet”.
In April, it was announced that the non-binary drag star – the only contestant in Drag Race history to win the crown twice, on season five and All Stars seven – would serve up extra-terrestrial brilliance as Maestro in season 14.
Davies spoke out about fan speculation that Maestro could have links to one of the Doctor’s previous enemies, the Master – given the similarities in their names.
However, it is a happy coincidence, as the former series writer rejected the rumours. “No, it has nothing to do with the Master… It’s a completely different pantheon of gods that we’ve introduced,” he told Radio Times.
“I did think when I named them Maestro that there was a chance that that might overlap. It causes speculation, which is fun, but the Master is kind of parked for the moment. There’s been a lot of the Master recently, so it’s time to start again and have a fresh start to the show.”
But there’s more where that came from, as the showrunner added that the fourth episode in the upcoming season “has got possibly the strangest villain you’ll ever see”.
“And then episode five has great big ugly monsters, which are fantastic, so good old Doctor Who territory.”
Viewers will see Monsoon’s Maestro for the first time in episode two of the series, “The Devil’s Chord”.
Doctor Who returns for its 14th series on 11 May at midnight on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere.