This past weekend, the BBC announced that Ncuti Gatwa will be the next actor to play the role of the Doctor, breaking the color barrier for the lead actor in the same way that Jodie Whittaker broke the gender barrier. While I was personally hoping for a woman of color (like Jo Martin, who was technically the first on-screen actor of color in the role, though not the lead of the show), I am simply thrilled to have a not-white-dude headlining.
Ncuti is best known for his role in Sex Education, a comedy show about which I’ve heard good things, but have never watched myself. I imagine that I’ll give it a go some time before November 2023, though perhaps I’ll wait until the frenzy dies down a bit, as thousands of Doctor Who fans check it out in the wake of this announcement. Given how glowing Russell T. Davies’s comments about Ncuti and his audition were, I’m excited to see some of his work.
After the announcement, and before ever hearing the man speak, I read somewhere that Ncuti is a Scottish actor, originally from Rwanda. (I believe this makes him the fourth of fourteen lead actors to be from Scotland…) That really made me wonder what his natural accent would sound like. To my mild disappointment, there was no burr to it; it strikes me as a fairly standard British accent easily enough understood by us poor Yanks. At least there shouldn’t be complaints on that front.
As for complaints on other fronts, there are sure to be plenty (there always are). I have mostly abandoned social media these past few years, only dipping my toe into Twitter for a few minutes at a time once every few days, so I don’t know what the “general” reaction is, but from the things I’ve seen via friends, fandom is mostly excited. Some of the same people who were upset about Jodie’s casting are probably among those having a poor reaction to Ncuti. However, there are others who feel that Chibnall “ruined” or “nearly killed” the show (which I read as: cast a woman) who are looking forward to seeing how RTD and Ncuti can “save” it.
As a general rule, I think anyone who uses words like “ruin” and “kill” in the context of taking a new direction in an iconic show known for change is (much like the US Supreme Court) trying to impose their own personal preferences on everyone else, regardless of others’ perspectives, experiences, or best interests. It has been true throughout the history of Doctor Who that not every Doctor is for every viewer. For every fan who despises a particular Doctor or showrunner, there is another who loves that Doctor or showrunner that much or more—not to mention several other fans who find them at least acceptable.
My point is that the show has not been ruined during the Thirteenth Doctor’s run, nor will it be either saved or ruined during the Fourteenth’s. It will be different—again—which is exactly what we need. As our world changes and evolves, so should our show. And sometimes, if we approach it with an open mind, we might even find that the changes show us amazing new things we never knew we wanted.
I can’t wait!
I had to admit that I was a little surprised by the casting. The Chibnall/Whittaker era has been a bit “uneven” and the ratings have really dropped off (I blame the writing far more than Jodie). I figured the BBC would want to go super-traditional and get someone along the lines of David Tennant or Matt Smith to try to bring back the “glory days”. As far as Ncuti? Well, I don’t honestly have an opinion as I have never seen him in anything that I am aware of. This isn’t unusual though as I can say that about a number of past actors in the role. To me, it is important that the character remain somewhat British and Ncuti appears to have that covered. I wait to see what comes next with an open mind and high expectations.
I think “an open mind and high expectations” is a fantastic approach!
Ncuti Gatwa looks like a great choice to me. RTD seems like a step backwards, but I’ve also never been impressed by Chibnall, so it will probably still be an improvement for me. However, returning to a previous show-runner smacks of desperation and panic.
As for the first Doctor of color; I will point out that Patrick Troughton claimed that he originally proposed wanting to do the part in black-face, so we could have had a canonical Doctor of color much earlier, but realized in a way that I am quite sure would now horrify everybody.
And I would have loved to see a season of Jodie Whittaker under a different show-runner as I think that there is a lot of untapped potential there. I felt the same with Peter Capaldi. Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor even seems like one that RTD would work well with and expand upon. But, I can completely see why a new production company would want to take a completely clean slate approach to the show.
I’m not a fan of returning to a previous showrunner, either. The whole reason the show has done so well for nearly six decades is that it’s all about change. But I guess I’ll have to wait to pass judgement until I see what RTD does this time around.
I have done my best to repress the knowledge of a potential black-face Doctor (ugh!). I would argue the semantics of whether or not that would’ve made for a “Doctor of color,” but thankfully it’s completely moot.
And I’m in complete agreement with you about wanting to see specific actors under multiple showrunners, just to see what could have been different. I, too, understand the business/career side of things, but as a fan I find it disappointing that each Doctor has been exclusively associated with a single showrunner.