Ncuti Gatwa reveals why Russell T Davies gave him a telling-off on ‘Doctor Who’ set

Ncuti Gatwa finally made his eagerly-awaited debut on Doctor Who on Saturday night. The episode, ‘Giggle’, was widely praised by fans online. Besides a villainous turn from Neil Patrick Harris as ‘The Toymaker’, there was a surprise twist to the regeneration between David Tennant’s Doctor and Gatwa’s arrival (but we’ll avoid giving you any spoilers!).

Gatwa has been giving interviews ahead of his debut on the long-running sci-fi show. In a new one, he talked about some of the differences between filming Sex Education and Doctor Who.

In particular, one incident that led to a summons to see showrunner Russell T Davies (creator of the original Queer As Folk TV show on British TV).

According to The Sun, Gatwa cursed on set whilst in costume.

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“The only time I’ve ever gotten in trouble for anything was when I swore while wearing a Doctor Who costume.

“I got called into Russell’s office. Woo! And he let me know that that’s not acceptable.

“He said, ‘Do what you want when you’re out of costume, but when you’re in costume, do not let us catch you swearing’.”

Gatwa went on to explain that he was used to shooting Sex Education for Netflix. The Rwandan-born, Scottish-raised actor played Eric Effiong. He suggested that the talk on set was more adult and sexual in nature.

“So I’m on a constant journey of learning what it is to be a PG role model and the lead of a family show,” he told Radio Times.

Coming out as queer

In the summer, Gatwa confirmed he is queer when he told Elle UK magazine about bumping into “another queer Rwandan person” for the first time at a Pride festival in Manchester.

In a more recent interview with GQ, he spoke about coming out to his mom, and her reaction, five years ago. Aged 26 at the time, it was shortly before Sex Education first hit screens.

Gatwa’s first full episode as the Doctor will be the Christmas special on December 25th. In it, he will meet his companion, Ruby (played by Millie Gibson). It can be watched on Disney+ outside of the UK (where it airs on BBC). A new trailer dropped over the weekend. Watch below.

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