Doctor Who's Russell T Davies hails Ncuti Gatwa as 'one of our great actors'

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is one of the greatest actors of his generation, showrunner Russell T Davies has said, as he proclaimed that the Sex Education star could one day play James Bond.

Gatwa made his debut as the Doctor in the BBC show's 60th anniversary specials and had his first full episode in the 2023 Christmas special, and his first season as lead is set to debut on Saturday, 11 May. Speaking of Gatwa ahead of the new series, Davies was full of praise over his emotive performance in the show and said he was "the luckiest man on Earth" to have been able to cast him.

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"He's already one of our great actors," Davies said of Gatwa. "In Sex Education, you couldn't take your eyes off him. I literally swear, in five years’ time, you’ll have the next James Bond right here. I'll be being held back by security, saying 'I know him!'

"I consider myself to be the luckiest man on earth that in the year that I came along to take over Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa was coming to the end of his time on Sex Education. I’m so lucky that happened. It just looks like it was meant to be."

Reflecting on Gatwa's performance as the Doctor, Davies described him as "astonishing" as he said: "He’s limitless. That's really all you look for in every single actor. I've been so lucky over the years to work with people like this.

"There’s a certain breed of limitless actors who are unafraid to go anywhere or do anything. An awful lot of acting is wanting to be liked, but they don't care about that. The good ones just want to be, to exist and to ride to the emotion, whether it is terror, or joy or all the emotions in between. And you're never quite sure where they're going to go."

"When you see him in action as the Doctor, he's just astonishing," he went on. "I had to have a few words with myself. I thought, 'You have done a few Doctors now, can you do it again? Are you going to get excited? Are you going to get energised?'

Watch the trailer for Doctor Who season one:

"And then you look at Ncuti doing the role, and it's like a brand-new playing field. It's open vistas and new horizons ahead of you. It's so exciting that it inspires me. It generates stories in me. It's an absolute joy to work with him."

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Davies explained that he was looking for a "more emotional Doctor" for his return to the BBC franchise, and he felt that Gatwa was the perfect fit for his new image of the Time Lord.

"We have cast someone whose emotions are vast, turbulent, and visible," Davies reflected. "He cries when it’s sad, he laughs when it's funny, and he's got the biggest smile in the whole universe. When fear or suspicion play across his face, he signals wildly to the camera what's going on. You can’t miss it.

"Historically, Doctors have tended to keep their emotions to themselves and play the game of being reserved. And the actors have done that brilliantly.

"But right now in 2024, I want a man who cries when it's sad. And Ncuti does that to an astonishing degree. I just genuinely feel lucky to be part of this now. With him in the TARDIS, it is wonderful."

Doctor Who season one premieres on Sunday, 11 May at midnight on BBC iPlayer, and the double-bill premiere will air from 6.20pm on BBC One.