LORD of the UNIVERSE
Saving the world is a ‘huge’ responsibility but also ‘so much fun’ for Ncuti Gatwa, the latest Doctor Who
Forget the sonic screwdriver. The most effective tool possessed by the new Doctor Who — RwandanScottish actor Ncuti Gatwa — might just be his smile.
It suffuses the screen with warmth and charisma and the feeling that, in Gatwa’s guise as television’s beloved time lord, everything will be OK.
I found myself looking for that smile during a brief chat this week with Gatwa alongside Millie Gibson, who plays the Doctor’s companion, Ruby Sunday, and was pleased whenever it flashed during our Zoom call.
The 31-year-old Gatwa is the 14th actor to portray the time-travelling alien since “Doctor Who” debuted in 1963 and the sixth since the series was revived in 2005 by Russell T Davies, the Welsh writer and producer also known for the gay drama “Queer as Folk.” (Technically Gatwa is the 15th doctor, but the 10th and 14th versions were played by the same actor, David Tennant.)
But up until Jodie Whittaker took control of the TARDIS (the Doctor’s time-travel vehicle) in 2018, they had all been white males. Gatwa is not only the first Black Doctor but the first to be played by an openly queer actor.
However, he wouldn’t be drawn into a discussion of why that was an important development, at least not on our call.
“Why do I think it’s important? I think it’s important that the role went to the best person for the job and that’s what happened. And that person happens to be Black and queer,” he said.
Fair enough, but it’s safe to say it’s a shift that’s long overdue. After all, if this two-hearted being has been alive for hundreds of years and travelled all over the universe interacting with all kinds of species, how does it make sense that they would be limited to one skin colour and gender when it comes time to regenerate into their newest incarnation?
Each actor’s Doctor has their own characteristics, their own look and tone. Gatwa’s is easily the snappiest dresser of the lot, going from a tank top and kilt in a dance club scene to a multicoloured striped shirt (partially unzipped to reveal a couple of gold chains) and long leather coat to a snazzy pinstriped suit and Afro for an episode in which he and Ruby visit the Beatles at Abbey Road Studios.
It’s been reported elsewhere that Gatwa’s Doctor has more outfits than all the other Doctors combined.
He’s also effervescent and empathetic, quick to flash that brilliant smile but also to shed tears. And he sings and dances.
Dare I say he’s also the rare Doctor who could be described as sexy.
Asked how much of Gatwa and Gibson themselves Davies might have written into their characters, Gatwa said, “Russell tends to write, I guess, for our dynamic — not so much us as people, but the dynamic that Ncuti and Millie have, he liked and wanted to infuse into the story.”
Gatwa and Gibson, a 19-year-old English actor best known for “Coronation Street,” have an easy, playful rapport onscreen that carried over into their joint interview.
“You’re not an alien, are you darling?” Gibson quipped, turning to Gatwa.
“I’m not an alien, funnily enough,” he replied, laughing.
Gibson did say that Ruby is more positive than she is.
“I think if I was in the situations that Ruby and the Doctor were in, I’d be like, ‘I’m out. I can’t. I’m done for the day.’ But Ruby’s very determined and she has a certain heart about her that is just full of gold. And, yeah, she’s always a glass-halffull girl and it really helps in the situations we get in.”
Disney Plus doesn’t want spoilers getting out about the two episodes that debut on the streamer on Thursday. Suffice to say that in the first, Ruby and the Doctor find themselves on a space station populated by babies; in the second, they make that aforementioned trip to Swinging Sixties London.
But naturally there are always going to be monsters and villains for the pair to battle in the interests of saving humanity, including one played by drag queen Jinkx Monsoon.
Gatwa joked about “being asked to save the entire universe week upon week” but, in all seriousness, taking on the role was a weighty decision. He spent a week thinking about it before he said yes.
Asked why, Gatwa said, “You’ve got to think about taking on such an iconic character. It’s huge.”
Describing the day he got offered the job, he added, “I was on my way into the barbershop to get my hair cut and then after that I had so much laundry to do, so I wasn’t anticipating the existential conversation I was going to have with my agent, whereby she was going to offer me the role of saving the universe.”
Based on the first two episodes of this new season, which were made available early to media, Gatwa seems up to the job.
The Rwanda-born actor’s most high-profile role before this was in the Netflix comedy “Sex Education,” in which he played a gay high school student. He was subsequently cast as one of the Kens in “Barbie” and as a pilot in Apple TV’s Second World War drama “Masters of the Air.”
But playing Doctor Who brings with it a whole new level of scrutiny and fame.
Gatwa and Gibson are both cognizant of that. Both had watched “Doctor Who” before — Gibson said she’s still haunted by the “weeping angels,” predatory statues that terrorized Tennant and successor Matt Smith — and they were well aware of the special place the show occupies in British pop culture.
“Everyone in the U.K. kind of has a connection and an affinity to ‘Doctor Who’ because it’s just so much a part of the air we breathe,” Gatwa said.
“It’s like your favourite grandmom’s armchair. It’s always been there and you’ve loved it, and it’s been in the family for years.”
With that familiarity comes a responsibility for the actors who take on the roles, he added.
“We are only incumbent in these roles,” he said as Gibson nodded along. “We’ve had the baton passed to us and we shall pass it on to someone else. So you want to preserve that lovely, lovely thing for people. So yeah, there is a responsibility, but also there’s so much fun to be had as well with the roles.”