Last Call For You Know Who

The BBC has announced the 14th Doctor Who this weekend, Netflix's Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa will carry on the role from the departing Jodie Whittaker.

Actor Ncuti Gatwa will take over from Jodie Whittaker as the star of Doctor Who, the BBC has announced.

The 29-year-old will become the 14th Time Lord on the popular science fiction show, and the first non-white performer to play the lead role.

Scottish actor Gatwa, who was born in Rwanda, is best known for starring in Netflix's sitcom Sex Education.

He told BBC News: "It feels really amazing. It's a true honour. This role is an institution and it's so iconic."

Speaking on the red carpet before Sunday's Bafta TV Awards, where he is nominated for Sex Education, Gatwa said the role of the Doctor "means a lot to so many people, including myself".

He added: "I feel very grateful to have had the baton handed over and I'm going to try to do my best."

Gatwa will make his debut as the Time Lord in 2023.

Showrunner Russell T Davies said Gatwa had impressed him in a "blazing" audition.

"It was our last audition. It was our very last one," the writer and producer said. "We thought we had someone, and then in he came and stole it.

"I'm properly, properly thrilled. It's going to be a blazing future."

 

First, if you haven't seen Gatwa and the excellent Gillian Anderson in Sex Education on Netflix, do it. It's hysterical, even Ender's Game star Asa Butterfield has serious comedic chops as a British private school chap whose mother (Anderson) is a famous sex therapist. Three seasons with a fourth on the way means there's a nice bit to binge.

 

Second, I liked Jodie Whittaker at the 13th Doctor a lot, and while the writers were about to make some excellent use of Doctors 11 (Matt Smith) and 12 (Peter Capaldi) with Stephen Moffat as showrunner and head writer, Whittaker as the 13th Doctor really had some stinker episodes over the last three seasons and the show suffered dramatically as a result under showrunner and writer Chris Chibnall.

The return of Davies will hopefully be a course correction, even though he left the show in 2009 because he was basically done after four seasons (and I'd rather have Moffat back, dammit.)

We'll see next year.