Doctor Who's Ncuti Gatwa Explains How Past Doctors Inspired His Own

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa talks about his favorite Doctor with ComicBook.

By Aaron Perine

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa revealed how past Doctors inspired his own take on the classic character. ComicBook had the chance to sit down with Ncuti Gatwa and MIllie Gibson to talk Doctor Who. During our conversation, the 15th Doctor explained how cohesive the his character feels despite being played by so many different performers. Gatwa calls it a "tangible quality." It would be hard to argue this take. Longtime Doctor Who fans can point out similarities between even the most contrasting tenures will tell you, there's always something from the legacy worth pulling from. You can check out what the star had to say up above and read the thoughts down below!

"No, definitely looked back. I just found it so helpful just in terms of immersing myself in the world, just in general," Gatwa recalled. "And it was out of like personal interest, and it was just interesting to see what was like. I've said this many times, but like they were all very much 'The Doctor.' There's a tangible Doctor quality about them all. But then, they're all completely different from the last. So, I just found that fact in itself interesting and just trying to figure out how I can be a part, be the continuation of that." 

Gatwa added, "But yeah, no, definitely. Look, my doctor was David [Tennant]. And so, that's who I looked back on first then branched out from there. And then, was like, 'Throw it all out the window. I need to do my own thing.' So, yeah, I did that."

Doctor Who Pushes Forward Into A New Era

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(Photo: BBC / Disney+)

Doctor Who, as a show, has not been content to get complacent. Yes, the occasional look down memory lane can feel really good. However, one of the things that Gatwa and showrunner Russell T. Davies have put forward as a goal is moving Doctor Who into a new era. (This is both literal as the first season in concert with Disney+, and figurative as this interpretation of The Doctor is pushing the ideas of what the character can be to new heights while retaining a lot of the beloved qualities.) So, the star feels very confident about the road they're walking.

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"It does take a bit of the pressure off, because it was very much that we stepped into a new era," Gatwa said earlier in our interview. "[Showrunner] Russell [T. Davies] is back, and it's like there's a whole fresh energy running through it. So even in terms of, The Doctor is a lot more kind of joyful than we've seen before. So it feels like there's a fresh energy running through it. So I'm just gonna ride with that and hope that nobody holds me up to sixty years of expectation."

Who is your favorite actor to play The Doctor? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

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