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The 14th Doctor Revealed! Let's Discuss!

After months of waiting and speculation, the BBC has finally announced their pick for the next incarnation of The Doctor.

Universe, meet Ncuti Gatwa. Ncuti Gatwa, meet the universe.

After a significantly longer wait that usual, the announcement has been made that 29-year-old Ncuti Gatwa has been cast as what they'll probably keep referring to as the 14th incarnation of The Doctor. Although at this point making a definitive statement about the number of incarnations that The Doctor has had is basically the online equivalent of shoving an angry ferret down your pants, so let's not dwell too much on the numbering.

Like most of us (I suspect) I had never heard of Mr. Gatwa prior to this announcement, and so I did what I suspect many of us did and did a quick search of his name, which revealed two primary things. First, his first name is pronounced SHOO-tee GAT-wah (or ˈʃuːti ˈɡætwɑ, if you prefer that system of notation) which is useful to know. And second, that he was primarily known for a show on Netflix called Sex Education, which I had never heard of.

I'm particularly happy that I received that second piece of information, because I binge watched most of the first season of that show yesterday, and it's just fantastic. I have absolutely no doubt, after seeing his chops for drama/comedy/awkward combinations of both at the same time, that he's going to be an amazing Doctor. I'm savoring the time left with Jodie, but I can't wait to see where he takes the TARDIS and the role.

Oh, and a bonus third detail; he was born in Rwanda but raised in Scotland. Which means that the contingent of Scottish Doctors has some good, solid representation going on in Nu-Who with an impressive four out of six.

So, what are your hopes for the new Doctor? I think the next thing that I'm really looking forward to is the reveal of his costume, but we're probably a few months away from that at least.

And lastly, I know I don't really have to say this, because DouxReview commenters are always and without fail insightful, enthusiastic, and the cream of the internet commenting crop, but online Doctor Who discussion being what it is these days, a gentle reminder to try to stay positive. It's what all of the Doctors would want.

Can't wait for the next bit of news!

Oh, and you might want to go ahead and add both 'Ncuti' and 'Gatwa' into your spellcheck dictionary right now. Seriously, save yourself a lot of hassle.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, retired firefighter, and roughly 78% water. You can find more of his work at the 42nd Vizsla. If you'd like to see his raw notes for this and other reviews, you can find them at What Was Mikey Thinking.

10 comments:

  1. I haven't seen Sex Education (is that the one with Gillian Anderson?) but I'll certainly give Ncuti Gatwa a try.

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    1. Yep, that's the one with Gillian Anderson. And the fact that Gillian Anderson is in a show, and isn't the best thing in it says everything you need to know about how great the rest of the show is.

      Oh, and one other important and relevant thing that Sex Education has demonstrated is that Ncuti Gatwa can pull off literally ANY outfit. Like, I used to think that Caity Lotz could never be topped in that department, but I have stood corrected.

      I used to worry that if they cast a man as the next Doctor that they'd make some cringey joke out of him wearing Jodie's outfit for a bit of their first episode, but this man could 100% pull off just keeping it for his entire run. Just check out his instagram feed for proof that no outfit is beyond him.

      Oh, and I didn't remember to mention it, but I did check and as far as I can tell he uses he/him pronouns

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  2. I really wanted another woman but Ncuti is just so dang adorable in all the interviews I've seen him in (I spent a good bit of time on YouTube looking up his past press the day of the announcement). Definitely rooting for him to be a good Doctor. Haven't checked out Sex Education yet but I have time before Ncuti takes over so maybe I'll watch a few at some point. I hope they let him keep his natural accent for the Doctor as it's gorgeous. It's English/African. I didn't pick up any Scottish but I don't have the best ear for accents either.

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  3. I'm always a bit apprehensive when a new doctor is announced, just because I'm always attached to earlier generations and new things are scary. But I'm getting moderately excited this time. Ncuti seems like a passionate person who wants to do great work with the role and Davies seems to be incredibly enthusiastic about him, and that's bound to be good news. I wouldn't mind it if the show leaned into queerness a bit more, also, and he has experience playing such a character.

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    1. I'm of mixed feelings regarding leaning into his queerness more. On the one hand, yes, having the character of the Doctor lean into queerness more would be awesome and I'm totally here for it.

      On the other hand, Ncuti Gatwa is clearly capable of a lot more as an actor, and I'd hate for it to seem like they're just having him rehash his character work on Sex Education.

      Of course, there's certainly lots of ways to be queer. I'm sure he's capable of putting a different characterization than the one he's already done.

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  4. I stopped watching Dr. Who with Capaldi. If I wanted to get back into it, where would be a good place to start?

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    1. Right where you left off with Capaldi!!! D:<
      Ain't nothin' worth skipping... NOTHIN'

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    2. Depends on where and why you quit I think! If it's a motivation thing (the few first Capaldi episodes were hit and miss I think) a great one-parter like Mummy on the Orient Express or Flatline might be a good one. When it comes to getting back into the story, the final two parter of season 8 might work or the first two parter of season 9

      Capaldi had a great run marred by some bad episodes in season 8 (inbetween good ones), imo, but season 9 and 10 are great

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    3. I get not wanting to continue to invest time and energy on a show you're not enjoying anymore. One solid option is to start fresh when they air the first episode with Ncuti. New Doctors are always set up to be an easy jumping on point.

      As far as stuff in between Capaldi and then, I'd say that Capaldi's final two parter of World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls is a nice way to close off the Capaldi era. It's worth watching just for Michelle Gomez alone. The Twice Upon a Time christmas special is fairly skipable, unless you feel the need to see the actual regeneration.

      If you're not feeling particularly complist about things, these are the Jodie Whitaker stories that are totally worth your time:

      -Demons of the Punjab
      -It Takes You Away (doesn't really do a ton for me, but it's a favorite for a lot of people)
      -Spyfall parts 1 and 2 - worth it TOTALLY for Lenny Henry, who is a treasure.
      -Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror (The opposite - Lots of people trash this one, but I really love it)
      -Fugative of the Jadoon
      -The Haunting of Villa Diodati is absolutely lovely and atmospheric. It leads directly into a fairly divisive two part season finale that you can either watch or skip and assume everything works out all right.
      -Flux - there's enough good in it that it's worth sitting through at least once. It's also entirely reasonable to watch parts 1-5 and then just assume that everything works out all right in part 6.
      -Eve of the Daleks is really charming

      Those, in my humble opinion, are the ones that are most worth your valuable time. It will require however some random companion comings and goings that occur between those stories.

      That's my two cents.

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    4. Frank, I just didn't click with Capaldi, and so didn't give him much of a shot. But an episode called Mummy on the Orient Express sounds hard to pass up...

      Thanks to all for these great lists!

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