A new Who is on the horizon, and there's a buzz in the air. There always is when a new actor steps into the lead role of the Doctor on Doctor Who, the classic sci-fi series that's been running for over 60 years now, but this time it feels a little different. Not only has the series now working with Disney, which gives it access to a budget it's never had before, but Russell T Davies — the man who revived the show in 2005 and ushered it through its most recent golden age — is back as showrunner. And there's the new Doctor himself: actor Ncuti Gatwa, who is well aware of how many eyeballs are on him. “I was really cautious about getting it right throughout filming,”he explained to Entertainment Weekly. “It’s 60 years’ worth of legacy and 60 years’ worth of a show that people have loved and watched with their families. It lives in people’s hearts, so I really wanted to protect that.”
At the same time, while Gatwa wants to do right by longtime fans, part of how you keep a series going for over half a century is by continually introducing new ideas, and he's ready to hit the ground running. “I had a lot of set expectations as to what the Doctor should be like. I thought, 'There’s definitely a correct way of doing the Doctor,' which is a very British mentality. I found it very confusing in season 1, the fact that they were just trusting me to do what I want with the role," he said. "I was like, ‘Surely there’s a right way and a wrong way, and you’ve got to tell me the right way.’ But they were like, ‘Well, it’s just whatever you’re doing.’ It took a long time for that to settle in: They just wanted me to be myself creatively.”
It sounds like Gatwa will be the kind of Doctor who pushes for what he wants, which could go a long way toward making his era feel distinctive. And one of the things he wants? To fight a Dalek. "I’ve heard chats about me not ever facing a Dalek. I’d be so angry if that’s the case!" he said. "By the time that I’m done with Doctor Who, I better have faced a Dalek. What on earth would be the point of me being Doctor Who without facing a Dalek!"
The trash can-like Dalek aliens have been a staple of Doctor Who since the beginning, although as Davies has admitted, they can be overused. "I do think we've had a lot of Daleks lately," the showrunner said, per Radio Times. "Because, actually, lovely Chris Chibnall's Christmas specials have all been Daleks. So I think they've been done a lot, so people are expecting them every year now. So I think they need a good pause." I think that's reasonable, although it doesn't mean Gatwa couldn't encounter a Dalek before the end of his run. Just don't expect any in the upcoming season.
Beyond that, Gatwa has something else he needs to do: “I need a big dance number!” he said. “That’s what I’m going to put into the universe: I need the Doctor to have a big, fierce dance routine that, like, destroys a monster with twerking. Or maybe some death drops, and that’s what will drop the monster.” It feels like he's on his way to that one:
So those are some of the reasons to look forward to the new season of Doctor Who, which is the 14th since the series was revived but which Disney is labeling "season 1," which is a big swing. But a new Doctor can also mean backlash. Jodie Whittaker got her share when it was announced that she would play the first female Doctor. And you don't have to look hard to find people upset that Gatwa, a black queer man, is taking on the role.
Ncuti Gatwa gives his take on the racist backlash to him playing the Doctor
Gatwa addressed some of the backlash in the May/June issue of Attitude magazine, per Yahoo. “The hate? It is kind of fascinating to me because there’s so much energy they’re putting into it… I think they need to go find a hobby is one thing," he said. "But another thing is that we do see a shift happening in casting, in positions of power and in the status quo. I mean, not a fast shift, things could tip over the other way a little bit quicker, but you see people kind of malfunctioning because things are changing.”
Bigotry often manifests as backlash to changing social norms, so I think that insight tracks. The Doctor, as always, will lead by example onscreen. “The Doctor is constantly fighting for every life, even his villains,” Gatwa said. “He shows mercy and compassion to all because he understands that there’s a need for everything, and that we need each other. It’s really nice to have a show like Doctor Who running after all these years in this era that we are in now.”
The new season of Doctor Who premieres on Disney+ and BBC One on May 11.
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