A couple of weeks ago, in an interview published by Elle UK, incoming Doctor Ncuti Gatwa referred to himself as queer. Or, to be more precise, referred to someone he met at a Pride event as “another queer Rwandan person.” We already knew that Ncuti was breaking new ground in Doctor Who in terms of racial representation, but this new perspective on what Ncuti brings to the lead role is even more thrilling. We get to have a queer Doctor.

Granted, the character may or may not express that aspect of identity. Obviously, I personally would love to see them do so, but even if they don’t (aside from the non-binary pronouns Ncuti consistently uses when referring to the Doctor), merely having a queer actor in the role will affect how the character is presented. Just as much as every viewer brings their own perspective (and baggage) to a story, so do the artists portraying the various characters bring something of themselves to a performance.

Of course, as always, much of how it all plays out on screen is down to the writers of the various episodes. There is only so much any one artist can do with what they’re given on the page (as we’ve seen often enough in the past, with Elisabeth Sladen and Colin Baker being some of the most prominent examples)—as the old saw in computing goes, “garbage in, garbage out.”

But it’s actually fairly rare that I would consider a modern Doctor Who script be worthy of such an epithet. Further, I am optimistic that the recent overall trend of bringing in more diverse scriptwriters will continue, which in turn will give Ncuti and his fellow artists more to work with. I think there is a very good chance that there are plenty of good stories on their way.

Even so, I need to contain my excitement and temper my expectations. Just as Jodie could not represent every woman out there when she became the Doctor, neither can Ncuti be the “one true” non-white person or the “one true” queer person. We need more stories both created by and about a wider cross-section of humanity for this very reason.

Since we’re used to seeing a wide range of white, heterosexual, cisgender male characters on our screens, we don’t automatically assume that either a lawful-good hero or a chaotic-evil villain (or any type in between) represents the whole of that demographic. How can one character possibly be, or one actor possibly portray, the entirety of any demographic? People are complex, messy creatures, and more than anything I hope that our first queer Doctor continues to be that kind of fabulously complicated, quirky mess of a person. That is, after all, a big part of why we love them.