LOS ANGELES – Ncuti Gatwa, the first black actor to play the lead role in Doctor Who, says its new series feels like “a fresh era” as the British science-fiction television show goes global.
The much-loved BBC cult classic is now available to audiences outside Britain in a new collaboration between the British broadcaster and The Walt Disney Company’s streaming service Disney+.
The Rwandan-born Scottish actor, who shot to fame in Netflix comedy series Sex Education (2019 to 2023), plays the latest incarnation of the Time Lord in the new series, which also sees screenwriter and producer Russell T. Davies return as showrunner.
“It feels very much like a new and fresh era. So it’s a really great point for people to jump on board to the show,” says Gatwa, who also starred as one of the Kens in the hit fantasy film Barbie (2023), at the series premiere in Los Angeles on May 8.
“We’ve got new villains and monsters. The Doctor’s a lot more out of his depth than we’ve ever seen him before.”
The Doctor is able to regenerate, allowing different actors to play the role since the series first aired in 1963.
“My approach was to watch, study all the past Doctors, find out their weaknesses and how I can be better,” Gatwa, 31, joked.
“I really wanted to immerse myself in the world of it all, and just understand what was unmistakably the doctor about each of them and what they brought individually to the role and tried to see where I could fit. I don’t know whether I’ve done that, but we shall see.”
English actress Millie Gibson, who starred in British television soap Coronation Street from 2019 to 2022, plays the Doctor’s new companion Ruby Sunday.
In the new series, the pair will head to the Regency era and war-torn future worlds in their Tardis, a time-travelling craft in the shape of a police telephone box that looks bigger on the inside than the outside.
“It’s timeless. I mean, not only does the doctor regenerate, but the show also regenerates with it and so does its audience,” Gibson, 19, said. REUTERS
- Doctor Who is available on Disney+.
