Neurodivergent (Headcanon) Alley: Trev Simpkins (Doctor Who)

Other than Paddington 2, which I watched for Peter Capaldi and includes a teeny-tiny Joel Fry appearance, this is the only role of his I watched in between seeing Our Flag Means Death and starting Joel Fry-days. It’s the only project I went into knowing he was going to be in it—knowing and liking him, excited to see him, but not yet watching it specifically for him. It was fun to revisit the episode now. Although it’s a bit of a letdown as a Joel Fry project, that’s purely because he’s not in it nearly enough. Every minute Trev is onscreen, he’s simply a delight!

Since I’ve already reviewed this episode, I wanted to write something different for today’s post, and a Neurodivergent Alley seemed like a good choice. I suspect you’ll be seeing these for more of Joel Fry’s characters sooner rather than later! Before we get into it, here’s my Joel Fry-days addendum to my original Sunday Who Review post:

Accent Watch

Sounds like Southern British English.

Recommend?

In General – Overall, I would (if you already know Doctor Who—this would be a rough episode to start out on.) It’s kind of messy, but there’s also a lot of loveliness and creativity here.

Joel Fry – Yes. I love Trev!

Warnings

Violence, mild language, scary moments for kids, and thematic elements.

I don’t write about my personal speculation about performers’ neurotypes, so I’m just looking at the characters here. But at this point, I’m suspecting that Joel Fry is one of those actors where most of their characters feel autistic. And from what I’ve seen so far, Fry’s characters often feel autistic in different ways, which I like a lot. If you take, say, Frenchie, Darren from White Van Man, and Bob from American Sweatshop, they all seem autistic to me despite having so many differences between them. Additionally, I have forthcoming reviews of some other roles where Fry’s character canonically has another form of neurodivergence, such as depression or a psychotic disorder.

All right, let’s talk Trev. He works security at the Time Hotel, and he encounters the Doctor in the lobby, nicking milk and biscuits in his dressing gown and slippers. The Doctor brushes off Trev’s concerns that he might be trespassing and returns to the TARDIS. But he quickly comes back out again, having realized he noticed something mysterious that needs investigating. He enlists Trev to help him on his “top-secret dangerous mission,” and despite being a little uncertain and nervous about that, Trev is all in.

As I said, the episode doesn’t have nearly enough Trev, and much of his dialogue is functional—he’s a person to listen to the Doctor’s observations and theories, someone who can explain little details about the Time Hotel. As such, I just don’t know enough about Trev to say whether or not he’s autistic. I’m pretty darn sure he has anxiety, though, so that’s what we’ll be looking at today.

We’ll start with what little is in the text, then move onto the specifics of Joel Fry’s performance (which is where the real meat is.) Trev repeatedly begins statements with “sorry”: sorry to interrupt, sorry if he’s mistaken, etc. His kneejerk response is to apologize for his presence or thoughts. And when the Doctor recruits him for the mission, Trev is confused, overwhelmed, and hanging on for dear life as he tries to follow the wild twists of an adventure with the Doctor. I love this exchange between them, when the Doctor takes him by the arm and starts strolling around the lobby:

THE DOCTOR: “Keep it casual, like you haven’t noticed anything dangerous.” 

TREV: “But I haven’t noticed anything dangerous.” 

THE DOCTOR: “Then why aren’t you strolling better?” 

TREV: “Well, I’m pretending not to notice something I haven’t noticed. I really haven’t perfected a stroll for that!”

I love them, your honor! Is it too late to have two full seasons of Trev as the Fifteenth Doctor’s companion?

I also love that, while Trev really doesn’t know what’s going on and is apprehensive about what to do, he is also determined to make good. When the Doctor tasks him with following a suspicious character, Trev vows to come through for him, adding, “No, seriously, I’m on this—I’m on this. This is gonna be the least I’ve ever let anybody down.” This line, of course, suggests that Trev is used to letting people down, but I like that he doesn’t let his nerves or his past failures (real or perceived) stop him from doing everything he can to help.

All these moments are great, and while they wouldn’t necessarily point to neurodivergence on their own, Joel Fry’s performance puts a particular slant on it. Trev stammers a lot, and he has a habit of putting pauses in the middle of his sentences in odd places. And I’m obsessed with Fry’s body language here. Honestly, Trev is fidgeting for a good chunk of his screentime—mostly rubbing his fingertips with his thumbs (a common anxious stim among Fry’s characters,) but he also plays with his cuff and the bottom of his shirt. When he first approaches the Doctor, his arms are folded tightly across his chest in an uncomfortable manner, and there’s another scene where his shoulders are tensely raised up. Everything about Trev’s body language screams anxiety.

Which, to me, is really cool. I like that the Doctor gets someone who’s uncertain and anxious to help him, that Trev pushes through that anxiety, and that he does help the Doctor in important ways, without magically “fixing” that part of himself. It’s never named as such, making me think it’s more about Joel Fry’s performance than something the show was specifically aiming for. But regardless, it means something to me that the Doctor looks at Trev and thinks, “Yeah, this guy can help me out.”

Neurodivergent (Headcanon) Alley: Ted Lasso (Ted Lasso)

*Ted-related spoilers.*

Canonically, of course, Ted deals with anxiety and panic attacks, which I would consider a form of neurodivergence (medical science seems split on that categorization.) However, I’m sticking with the “(Headcanon)” in the title, since I do primarily want to talk about autism and ADHD today. One of the things I love about Big Neurodivergent Energy shows is how we can see so many different types of autistic and/or other ND characters interacting. Ted’s neurodivergent coding is wildly different from Roy’s, or that of any other character on the show, really, and I love that for him.

We know that Ted leads with positivity in virtually all things, and that feels AuDHD to me in a few different ways. First, his upbeat attitude and unwavering belief in the best of others makes him stand out, but he doesn’t mind if people think he’s weird, naïve, or corny. He rejects neurotypical society’s expectations of judgment or grudge-holding, instead opting for forgiveness and optimism. From the outside, he might look like he’s just a pushover, but his philosophy is actually pretty radical, and he’s strong enough in his sense of self to prefer being curious over judgmental, as the iconic darts scene in season 1 demonstrates.

Ted’s positivity could also be read as his form of masking, putting a good face on everything to disguise his own discomforts and worries. As a masking strategy, it’s maybe a little unusual, because again, it doesn’t help Ted blend into neurotypical society—just the opposite. But he’s different in a way that often ingratiates him with others. His patient kindness and loving outlook wins people over, and under his influence, the entire Richmond atmosphere starts to change. Now, I think Ted’s behavior is primarily motivated by wanting to help others be their best selves, not by wanting to be accepted and liked. But I do think some of this is a defense mechanism. He has major issues with avoiding uncomfortable and “negative” emotions, and he thinks that if he’s happy-go-lucky Ted, he can just keep smiling until everything’s okay for real.

And yes, there’s definitely a people-pleasing aspect to this. Ted doesn’t crave people’s approval through what’s considered a traditionally masculine lens, and he does use relentless optimism as a way to keep people from seeing his fears sometimes. But he also really, really wants what’s best for people, sometimes neglecting his own needs in the process. More than anything, he wants people to feel happy, fulfilled, and safe to be themselves, and he puts a lot of energy into creating an environment where others are okay. Which is a great thing to want! Ted is an amazing person, and I love him for his considerate, giving nature. But because he almost always puts others first, that can prevent him from asking for help when he needs it or expressing his own frustrations and struggles.

Besides that, Ted adores wordplay—he’s full of amusing turns of phrase, he likes hokey jokes, and he plays all sorts of word games with Beard. He tends to misunderstand ambiguous statements, like when Rebecca offers to show him around and he thinks she means sightseeing spots around London, not the football club. He can be inattentive of his surroundings, which can be an issue when he’s not used to crossing the road in a country with left-side driving. He keeps an open jar of peanut butter on his counter at home so he can dip his finger in it whenever he wants, and he has sensory issues around sparkling water. He likes to entertain himself with silly or thought-provoking hypotheticals. He dances when he’s happy and fidgets with his hands when he’s anxious. I love him so much!