Ncuti Gatwa on the former Time Lord who coached him to become Doctor Who
After months of anxious waiting, Doctor Who is finally back on our screens! The fifteenth iteration of the iconic Time Lord, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will once again be taking viewers on a whistle stop tour around the universe alongside brand new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Coronation Street icon Millie Gibson.
Yet while the stars dusted off their sonic screwdrivers and brushed up on their Whovian knowledge, Ncuti has revealed it was actually a former Time Lord that reached out to him to offer advice ahead of his upcoming turn as The Doctor.
Recalling how their interaction came about, Ncuti explained: “ I bumped into Matt Smith at a party before I was allowed to announce it to anyone. I told him I was following in his footsteps, and he had no idea what I was talking about. But when it was announced, he texted me – ‘Aah, now I get it!’ “
Matt famously played the eleventh Doctor between 2010 and 2013 after taking over the role from David Tennant. During his tenure on the show, Matt’s Doctor welcomed companions Amy Pond ( Karen Gillan ) and Clara Oswald ( Jenna Coleman ) into his life, and to this day still remains one of the most beloved incarnations of the BBC character.
Matt Smith previously became the youngest ever actor to land the role of Doctor Who at the age of 26
Dishing the dirt on exactly what advice Matt had given him, Ncuti continued: “He was so lovely. He was like, ‘Take it all in your stride. If you ever need any advice, here’s my number, send me a text.’ Now that I’m in the role I get what they mean. What it’s like to play that role is not something that anyone else can understand. I’m very grateful for their support.”
As one of just over a dozen people in history to have ever taken on the role, Ncuti is now part of a very exclusive club – something he admitted himself was “mind-boggling!”
Gushing over his predecessors, the star said: “They’ve all been great actors, and just through their performances they have informed and supported me as well because they have given so many defining interpretations of the character. I was able to pick and choose things they did and throw them into the mix for my interpretation.”
With Russell T Davies once again at the helm of the show, viewers tuning in to the new series will be faced with a whole host of new monsters to combat, with plenty of excitement and even a little fear scattered along the way.
“Russell’s brain has managed to create a whole new level of monster that’s really terrifying! In the first episode, for instance, the monster is so scary,” warned Ncuti.
Teasing what lies ahead, Ncuti was notably tight lipped about the series, but did reveal that ‘family’ was a key theme
“ When I heard about it, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a nice beginning-of-the-series monster to warn the audience about what’s to come. It’s on the same level of scariness as the Goblin King.’ But then I saw the actual costume and it is absolutely terrifying. I was so shocked! We certainly are on track to get a whole new generation of kids hiding behind the sofa!”
Teasing what fans can expect to see from the series this year, Ncuti didn’t give much away about the main storylines, but he did tell fans: “What I can say is that Russell is a master at creating a certain intricate world. And he’s doing so already. So that’s going to be really exciting for the fans to piece things together.”
When pressed on whether there was a single overarching theme he also revealed: “Yes – It’s to do with family. The mystery of Ruby Sunday is the overriding theme of this season. We saw in the Christmas special that the Doctor and Ruby bond over the fact that they both orphans, they are foundlings.”
The first two new episodes of Doctor Who will premiere at midnight on May 11 on BBC iPlayer, before airing on BBC One at 6:20pm.