Yahoo News Ncuti Gatwa says Doctor Who and Christmas 'go hand in hand'
"They're both institutions that revolve around family."
Doctor Who's Ncuti Gatwa believes the festive season is a perfect fit for the Time Lord's travels.
Ahead of his first full episode in the TARDIS - Christmas Day special 'The Church on Ruby Road' - the actor told The Guardian what makes the sci-fi show so well-suited to the post-turkey dinner rest.
"Doctor Who, Christmas... They're both institutions that revolve around family, and coming together," he explained.
"They just go hand in hand."
Read more: The best Christmas 2023 TV to watch on ITV, BBC, C4 and more
The Sex Education favourite went on to add: "I mean, it's Christmas Day, you get to sit down with your family, watch Doctor Who and go on an adventure. An adventure through time and space with a crazy man in a box!
"Doctor Who can account for an hour of peace from the chaos. An hour's peace from the madness of Christmas, right?"
Further along his interview, Gatwa claimed that the Doctor "probably has quite a funny relationship with Christmas".
As for why? "It isn't joyous for everyone, and the Doctor is... quite lonely. I think the Doctor has a loneliness, a sorrow, a sadness that they try to fill with chaos and mischief.
"So I think they have quite a love/hate relationship with it."
Read more: The best Doctor Who Christmas episodes ranked
Millie Gibson, who plays new companion Ruby Sunday, has already stirred up a certain expectation of the Christmas special.
"It was like a masterclass every day with Ncuti," she revealed to The Times.
"There's a scene in the Christmas episode where I was watching him perform and I just started to cry. I wasn't even on camera, so it was a wasted performance."
Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road airs Christmas Day at 5:55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
Watch: Ncuti Gatwa admits nerves ahead of Doctor Who debut
