Ncuti Gatwa: The Sex Education star who brought a flirty-spin to the Doctor

South Wales Guardian

2 days ago

His path to success has been a long and winding one, with struggles with depression and homelessness, before landing the role of a lifetime and a dream for thousands of young actors.
The 32-year-old took on the role of the Time Lord previously filled by Matt Smith, David Tennant – who was brought back to be the 14th Doctor where he ushered in a bi-generation storyline that led to Gatwa becoming the 15th Doctor – and actress Jodie Whittaker.
Born in Rwanda before moving to Scotland, where he was raised, Gatwa began his career as an extra on the 2014 sitcom Bob Servant.
In 2016, he played Demetrius in a production of A Midsummer's Nights Dream at Shakespeare's Globe, before his big break came when he was cast in Sex Education as Eric Effiong, a young gay British-Nigerian who is best friends with Otis, the show's lead character.
The Netflix show, which ran from 2019 until 2023, documented Eric's growth as he deals with his family's acceptance of his sexuality while he embraces his Nigerian heritage.
He also falls in love with Adam (Connor Swindells), who bullied him in the first series, and has ups and downs in his friendship with (Otis Milburn) Asa Butterfield.
However, Gatwa's seemingly meteoric rise, which led to him being cast in the 2023 blockbuster Barbie, has been far from plain sailing.
Writing in The Big Issue in May 2020, he said he ended up homeless after running out of savings in the months before he landed his role in Sex Education.
'Being a 25-year-old man with no money or job affected my sense of self-worth,' he wrote.
'Rejection became unbearable. Auditions weren't just acting jobs, they were lifelines.'
He continued: 'One friend gave me money towards paying off the prior month's rent and offered to let me move into their spare room rent free for a while.
'Great, I thought. An opportunity to get back on my feet and start paying people back.
'On moving-in day, he changed his mind. As I was standing on the street with my suitcases, one thought came into my head: 'I'm homeless'.'
While everything appeared fine to the outside world, Gatwa was losing weight because he could not afford to eat properly.
'To the outside world everything seemed fine. I was temping at Harrods,' he wrote.
'I'd wake up from the double bed I shared with my best friend, leave the house without a hair out of place in a slick-looking trench coat and polished brogues.
'I would get compliments for looking so presentable. When I lost weight due to eating only one meal a day, people told me how lean and healthy I looked.'
In reality, Gatwa had developed depression, though he kept it from his friends out of fear of being a 'burden', and later worked through the mental health condition.
He joined Doctor Who in 2023 when Russell T Davies, who was behind the programme's 2005 revival, took over from showrunner Chris Chibnall – who steered Whittaker's run and worked with her and Tennant previously on Broadchurch.
Gatwa's turn in the science fiction show was praised by reviewers for his first season's starting episodes Space Babies and The Devil's Chord.
The Guardian said that he 'will make this show far more fun than it's been for years', praising him for being 'naturally able to express the dazzling extremes' of the character, while The Times said he 'sparkles as a charismatic Doctor with otherworldly energy'.
However, Davies, who had success with Channel 4's It's A Sin and Queer As Folk as well Doctor Who spin-offs The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood, has recently faced accusations that he has pushed the show in a 'woke' direction.
A small number of social media critics have pointed to the diversity of the cast, a drag queen villain, and introduction of transgender and non-binary characters.
However, both he and Gatwa have strongly dismissed this criticism as from a minority, with Davies telling BBC Radio 2's 20 Secrets From 20 Years: 'Someone always brings up matters of diversity.
'And there are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and involving messages and issues.
'And I have no time for this. I don't have a second to bear (it). Because what you might call diversity, I just call an open door.'
Gatwa told Attitude magazine in 2024 that the hateful comments the sci-fi show has received after casting a black man is 'fascinating, because there's so much energy they're putting into it … I think they need to go find a hobby is one thing'.
During his time, he has had companions in the form of Andor actress Varada Sethu, and former Coronation Street actress Millie Gibson, who played Gatwa's companion Ruby Sunday since the 2023 Christmas episode The Church On Ruby Road.
Highlights have included a Regency-themed episode that saw him have a burgeoning romance with the character Rogue, played by Mindhunter actor Jonathan Groff, the explosive Boom episode and the arrival of the classic Time Lord villain, the Rani.
Since Doctor Who, Gatwa has been in a re-imagined version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest at the National Theatre, and is set to be in West End play Born With Teeth – which re-imagines the relationship between rival playwrights Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.
He has also been in the Second World War show Masters Of The Air with Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, and the upcoming The Roses with two-time Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, and Academy Award-winner Olivia Colman.