Doctor Who start Jodie Whittaker says Ncuti Gatwa will take show to new audiences

Jodie Whittaker has said Ncuti Gatwa will be “magical” on Doctor Who and will reach audiences that she has not been able to.

The 40-year-old British actress has played the 13th incarnation of The Doctor since 2017, after she took over the role from Peter Capaldi.

Speaking ahead of her final feature length special – The Power Of The Doctor – airing next week, Whittaker said: “This family grows and it will be bigger than us and it will go on, and Ncuti will be extraordinary and he will bring an audience that we haven’t reached and his performance will be so magical.

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“Now we get to sit back and enjoy it as the fans that we can be now, knowing that whatever is to come we were once a part of that.”

Actor Ncuti Gatwa after receiving his honorary doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. Picture date: Thursday July 7, 2022.Actor Ncuti Gatwa after receiving his honorary doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. Picture date: Thursday July 7, 2022.
Actor Ncuti Gatwa after receiving his honorary doctorate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. Picture date: Thursday July 7, 2022.

The 30-year-old Sex Education star Gatwa, who graduated from Glasgow’s Royal Conservatoire (GRC), was announced as the 14th Doctor in May and will take over from Whittaker later this month.

Asked to share some advice for her successor, Whittaker said: “It’s yours for the taking, there’s no advice you can give.

“I’m certainly not giving that phenomenal actor any advice, he doesn’t need it from me.

“Just, it’s yours to own and you’ve earned it.”

Whittaker also spoke candidly about how emotional she became while making and watching her final Doctor Who episode, saying: “I just knew those moments, but I guess the wonderful thing is you can’t spoiler the end because we knew I was regenerating so I really only started crying over something I knew was about to happen.

“I’m not even slightly embarrassed about crying about it, it’s been the most special time and I got to do it side-by-side with friends and friends for life.”

Mandip Gill – who has played the role of The Doctor’s companion since 2017 – also spoke about the tearful experience of filming the final episode.

She said: “There wasn’t an awful lot of acting going on.

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“I don’t really cry… But there were real tears, it was just beautiful.

“Everyone was on set for the Tardis scene. Even when I was watching it, I was like ‘that’s not acting, that’s actually just me crying’.

“But it really was really emotional, really beautiful, and it was just written so well.

“I wouldn’t have wanted it to end any other way… I’m just so grateful that, like [Jodie] says, we’ve started together and we’ve ended together.”

The final episode, airing on BBC One on October 23, will see Whittaker’s Doctor fight for her existence against some of her deadliest enemies – The Master, the Daleks and the Cybermen.

This will be the first time the three classic adversaries of the Doctor all feature in a single storyline since the show returned to BBC One in 2005.

David Tennant, the 10th Time Lord, will also return to the show alongside Catherine Tate, who played his companion Donna Noble, for the 60th anniversary celebrations.

New Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa graduated with a BA in Acting from the RCS in 2013, and returned on to Glasgow this year to collect an honorary doctorate.

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