LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Ncuti Gatwa, the first Black actor to play the lead role in “Doctor Who”, says its new series feels like “a fresh era” as the British sci-fi television show goes global.
The much-loved BBC cult show will now also be streamed to audiences outside the United Kingdom in a new collaboration between the British broadcaster and Walt Disney Co’s streaming service Disney+.
The Rwandan-born Scottish actor, who shot to fame in Netflix show “Sex Education”, plays the latest incarnation of the Time Lord in the new series, which also sees screenwriter and producer Russell T Davies return as showrunner.
“It feels very much like a new era and a fresh era. So, it’s a really great point for people to jump on board to the show,” Gatwa told Reuters at the series premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
“We’ve got new villains and new monsters. The Doctor’s a lot more out of his depth than we’ve ever seen him before.”
The Doctor is able to regenerate, allowing different actors to play the role since the series first aired in 1963.
“My approach was to watch, study all the past Doctors that have been before, find out their weaknesses and how I can be better,” Gatwa joked.
“No, I really wanted to immerse myself in the world of it all and just understand what was unmistakably the doctor about each of them and like what they brought individually to the role and tried to see where I could fit in with that. I don’t know whether I’ve done that or not but we shall see.”
Actor Millie Gibson, known for British television soap “Coronation Street”, plays the Doctor’s new companion Ruby Sunday.
In the new series, the pair will head to the Regency era as well as war-torn future worlds in their TARDIS, a time-travelling craft in the shape of a police telephone box that famously looks bigger on the inside than the outside.
“It’s timeless. I mean, not only does the doctor regenerate, the show regenerates with it and so does its audience,” Gibson said.
“Doctor Who” premieres on Disney+ on Friday and on the BBC on Saturday.
(Reporting by Jorge Garcia; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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