Ncuti Gatwa was always doomed as The Doctor

Ncuti Gatwa’s casting in Doctor Who sounded like a canny move in 2022. Here was a fresh, exciting, magnetic comic talent – the breakout star of a Netflix phenomenon, known to audiences around the world because of Sex Education’s global appeal but not quite a household name – exploding with charisma.

Doctor Who was in crisis after the Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall era was so unpopular that Russell T Davies and David Tennant were roped back in to save it. The hope was that then-29-year-old Gatwa – black, queer, and incredibly likeable – would revitalise it, bringing his fans with him. At the same time, as the face of its flagship drama, the Scottish-Rwandan actor would project to the rest of the world a statement about what the BBC wants its future to look like.

What could go wrong? Well, unfortunately, quite a lot. Ratings continued to plummet. Crew claim they have been laid off. There is growing speculation that the programme may be axed altogether. Gatwa’s second series hasn’t even been broadcast yet and already The Sun reports that he has filmed his regeneration scene.

The BBC says that it never comments on a programme’s future until a series – this one now a Disney co-production – has aired, but it’s not looking good. Especially as there has been no denial from Gatwa, just a lot of rumours that he – who appeared in both the Barbie movie and Apple TV+ drama Masters of the Air – has had to turn work down for the role and is impatient to move to Hollywood, where projects are being kept on hold for him.

Is this really a surprise? Or is this the inevitable result of wishful casting that attempted to monopolise on Gatwa’s fanbase but failed to consider the realities of an ailing franchise, what really matters to its fans, and the stage Gatwa is at in his career?

The part of The Doctor is a poisoned chalice. It sounds like the role of a lifetime, the ultimate vote of confidence in your talent, and the kind of exposure and influence most actors could only dream of.

But the programme is so important to fans of so many generations that it is impossible to please everyone, and as well as being scrutinised endlessly – and compared to every other Doctor from the last 62 years – whoever is in the role becomes the repositary for every complaint viewers have (in Gatwa’s era, that’s been that the BBC is shoehorning “wokery” into its storylines), and the person blamed for the show’s success or failure.

It’s a lot of responsibility. To put up with it, you’ve got to really want it. It can’t be a stepping stone – it needs to be the pinnacle. Which is why Gatwa was always doomed. Casting an ascendant star, in huge demand, with limitless potential, simply can’t work, because they are bound for other great things that the commitment of British television won’t allow them.

The Doctor can’t go to Los Angeles and become a movie star. The Doctor can’t play the lead in a prestige drama. The Doctor needs to be on a sound stage in Cardiff fighting Daleks and getting punished for it by internet nerds who say it’s not the show it was in the 1970s.

It is a shame that this most cherished character can so easily become an albatross – especially when you consider the reputational damage all the backlash might do. The star of Doctor Who is immediately less important than the programme. Before Doctor Who, Gatwa had a personal brand. Now, instead, he’s the face of a dwindling one – and what young actor wants that on his CV?

Worse, Gatwa is all but hidden from the fans whom the BBC, rather delusionally, must have imagined were part of the package, but are clearly not watching. Shocker. Banking on any talent bringing their fanbase to a programme is a fantasy – nobody transforms into a sci-fi fan overnight – and displays a total misunderstanding of your audience and how to keep them, or lure them back.

Gatwa might be a perfect Doctor, but he was too young, too buzzy, and the programme in too much of peril for this to last – who can blame him for wanting to get out while he’s still hot property?

Note to the casting director: pick someone with less ambition next time. And remember that no name is big enough and no fanbase loyal enough to suddenly transform the fate of Doctor Who.