How Ncuti Gatwa Is Carrying Doctor Who’s Legacy Into a New Era

A new season of Doctor Who is just around the corner, with Ncuti Gatwa’s tenure as The Fifteenth Doctor fully kicking off this weekend. Gatwa, whose work includes beloved projects like Barbie and Sex Education, is the latest actor to step into the iconic role of The Doctor — but it sounds like he isn’t worried about the potential high standards of fans. While speaking to ComicBook.com about his work on the new season, Gatwa teased that his iteration of The Doctor will have a “fresh energy.”

“It does take a bit of the pressure off, because it was very much that we stepped into a new era,” Gatwa explained in our interview, which you can check out above. “[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.”

What Is Doctor Who‘s New Season About?

From Disney+ and the BBC, this season of Doctor Who follows the Doctor and Ruby Sunday nthrough infinite adventures across time and space in the TARDIS. From the Regency era in England to war-torn futures, the duo champion the forces of good while encountering incredible friends and dangerous foes.

Guest stars on the new season of Doctor Who will include Aneurin Barnard, Anita Dobson, Yasmin Finney, Michelle Greenidge, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford, Genesis Lynea, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush, Indira Varma and Angela Wynter. Doctor Who is produced by Bad Wolf, with BBC Studios for Disney Branded Television and BBC. Under the creative vision of Davies, the additional executive producers include Phil Collinson, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter. The new season features episodes directed by Ben Chessell, Jamie Donoughue, Julie Anne Robinson and Dylan Holmes Williams.

“At last, it’s my great delight to unleash a whole new season of the Doctor and Ruby’s adventures together,” showrunner, executive producer, and writer Russell T. Davies said in a statement. “Monsters! Chases! Villains! Mysteries! And a terrifying secret that’s been spanning time and space for decades. Don’t miss a second!”

Doctor Who will return with new episodes on Friday, May 10th at 7pm ET on Disney+, with a two-episode premiere, followed by a debut on BBC iPlayer on Saturday, May 11 at 12am GMT, and a broadcast premiere on BBC One later that day. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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