EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has received viewer complaints about an episode of Doctor Who with a historic gay kiss between Ncuti Gatwa and Jonathan Groff.

Two angry viewers criticized the “inappropriate sexual innuendo” that developed between Gatwa’s Time Lord and Groff’s bounty hunter Rogue in a Bridgerton-inspired story.

Viewers said the season 14 episode “Rogue” contained content that was “inappropriate for children,” with one person adding that the speed of the connection between the Doctor and Rogue was “worrying.”

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) rejected the complaints. In a ruling on Thursday, the unit said the sexual innuendo was mild and suitable for Doctor Who young audience.

“The ECU considered that the sexual innuendo was at the mild end of the spectrum and in any case likely to go over the heads of children,” the ECU said.

“The development of the relationship served the needs of a fast-paced plot and may not strike viewers of any age as a model for interpersonal relationships outside of this particular fictional context.”

The Doctor Who Set in the British Regency period in 1813 and first broadcast on June 8, the episode made history by featuring the first explicitly romantic same-sex kiss on screen.

They flirted mischievously throughout the episode and shocked the other guests at the Regency Ball with same-sex dancing. Their joint efforts ultimately led to Rogue sacrificing herself to save the world – but not before kissing the Doctor goodbye.

In a 2005 episode, John Barrowman’s Captain Jack briefly kissed Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor, but that encounter lacked the sexual tension of the Time Lord’s encounter with Rogue. And Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor had a hinted romantic relationship with her female companion Yaz (Mandip Gil), but their feelings remained implicit through the odd longing glance.

There have been same-sex kisses between various supporting characters in the series, but this new episode is the first to show that the Doctor is a being sexually interested in a person of the same sex and actually pursues that interest.

Season 14 of Doctor Who was written by Russell T. Davies, who is considered a pioneer of gay storytelling on screen and has created series such as Queer as Folk And It is a sin.