Disability Representation Win!!!
RTD went fearlessly with represention so far, he clearly has no fear of backlash. And the disability representation as a wheelchair user I was fucking ecstatic. Even more so than my excitement because I'm an enby, trans representation is amazing especially being Donna's daughter and a trans actor. But a wheelchair user character? We are always forgotten about. Also she's played by an actor who is a wheelchair user!!! I'm so happy. And they didn't shy away from making her an authority figure who should not be pitied.
Because fucking Chibnall's wheelchair representation was Yazmin's grandma feeling sorry for herself because "I was the first woman married in Pakistan , now look at me, in a wheelchair with shop bought cake" and it really fucking hurt. I remember how much that line in that episode hurt.
Credit where credit is due Chibnall did have disability representation. However, I feel like Ryan's dyspraxia was kind of shoe horned in as "see representation!" but it felt like he had dyspraxia when it was convenient to mention it and didn't have it in many other instances AND importantly the actor himself did not have dyspraxia, which cheapens it a little in my eyes. I also enjoyed that Diane not having an arm wasn't a huge plot point at all, she just doesn't have a lower arm, no biggie and it was a reflection of the actor who does not have a lower arm. Representation using actual members of the minority group ftw.
I don't remember if Moffat had any, he probably did? But not memorable I suppose.
I'll admit Shirley Anne Bingham having darts and explosives on her wheelchair was cool as fuck and makes sense since she works for a military-intelligence agency. The fact that it was a custom ultra light weight wheelchair not some annoying hospital one was also amazing, showing actual life of us wheelchair users (which make sense since the actor is one!)