New Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa ‘nervous’ about star role

Gatwa was brought up in Edinburgh

The Scottish-Rwandan actor has gone from starring in the hit Netflix series Sex Education to being the BBC’s latest Time Lord

The Scottish-raised actor playing the new Doctor Who has spoken about feeling “ready but nervous” for his new role.

Ncuti Gatwa auditioned for the part in February 2022 and was unveiled to the world by showrunner Russell T Davies two months later.

In an exclusive interview with the Big Issue magazine, Gatwa said: “It’s felt like I’ve been the Doctor and also had to hold off from being the Doctor for most of the last two years.

“So how do I feel about people seeing it? I feel ready. But I’m sooooo nervous.”

Gatwa said it was exciting to have David Tennant and Catherine Tate back for some special episodes, adding: “A nice little lead-in for me! It feels like it’s come full circle – because David was my Doctor and such a great inspiration to me as an actor.

“I would have been 13 – a pivotal time. And firstly, he’s Scottish. Plus he was so charismatic and fun – I mean all the Doctors have been fun, all the way back.

“Well, I don’t know if you can say that about William Hartnell. Maybe he wasn’t fun. But David had such a Scottish almost feral-ness to him, which is what I liked. I felt an affinity to that. So for him, of all people, to be handing the baton over – it just feels really surreal.”

Born in Rwanda in 1992, Ncuti Gatwa was one of three children brought up by his mother in Scotland after the family fled the Rwandan genocide in 1994. He attended Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh and Dunfermline High School.

Gatwa studied acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, graduating with a BA in 2013.

In 2020, he revealed his experiences of becoming part of the hidden homeless crisis while sofa-surfing as a jobbing actor.

The Sex Education star said then: “A majority of people are one bad incident or one bad pay cheque away from a really drastic situation. I don’t know if this is the right thing to say to the Big Issue, but to this day I still wake up and check my bank balance and that there’s food in my fridge.

“And that’s because of that brief period where I was struggling. I feel good that I spoke about it.

“Because it can happen to anyone and can be extremely difficult to get out of. There’s just so much judgment towards people who are homeless.”

Saturday’s Doctor Who episode saw a cameo appearance by the late Bernard Cribbins.

In the second instalment of the trio of specials, Cribbins made a cameo appearance as Wilfred Mott, grandfather of the Doctor’s companion Donna Noble, a role he played between 2007 and 2010.

The moving scene saw the veteran actor, who died in July 2022 aged 93, reunite with David Tennant’s Time Lord and Catherine Tate’s Donna.

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies revealed they had written more scenes for Cribbins to feature in but he died before they had chance to film them.

Writing on Instagram, alongside a photo of Cribbins, Tennant and Tate from the scene, Davies said: “Farewell, old soldier. That’s goodnight and goodbye to our beloved Bernard. Wilf is mentioned in dispatches next week, all safe and sound.”