Doctor Who fans relish punch for racist character

Doctor Who fans are cheering on the Time Lord for attacking a racist character in Saturday night's episode.

The episode entitled Thin Ice saw Peter Capaldi's Doctor and his sidekick Bill, played by Pearl Mackie, travel to 1814 London where they tackled the issues of racism and child slavery.

At the beginning of the programme, Bill said: "Regency England - bit more black than I realised."

The Doctor replied: "So was Jesus. History's a whitewash."

One viewer tweeted: "The Twelfth Doctor wearing a top hat AND calling out historical racism is my favourite thing."

Later in the episode, the time-travelling pair visited the house of a rich businessman who insulted Bill and shouted at her for not standing up when he entered the room, telling her that she should "respect her betters".

The 12th Time Lord, who had been trying to verify whether the man was human or alien, punched him to the ground for the comment.

Bill commented: "Pretty convincing racism for an extra-terrestrial," and the Doctor replied: "My thoughts exactly."

One fan tweeted: "Twelve punched a racist, will honestly never ask for anything ever again."

Someone else added: "I really love that the real monster of the ep was the white privileged racist man and not the sea serpent."

Another viewer wrote: "Wouldn't necessarily say it was the best *story* but it definitely had quite a few punch in the air (& one in the face) moments."

Fans agreed that it had been a strong episode and one person wrote: "#DoctorWho was incredible. Brought up some important issues regarding racism and representation. + racist human as villain? Spoke volumes."

:: Doctor Who continues on May 6 at 7.20pm on BBC One.