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Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa found out he would be the next actor to take on the role of the Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who a few months before the general public did -- and keeping it a secret apparently wasn't easy.
"It's been emotional, it's been emotional," Gatwa said during an interview on the red carpet of the 2022 British Academy Television Awards. "I was just saying, I woke up crying, and then I started dancing... I'm glad that it's finally out, and I don't have to keep it secret anymore, 'cause I'm terrible." Apparently, Gatwa officially landed the role sometime back in February.
Earlier today, May 8, BBC announced that Gatwa had joined the cast of Doctor Who as the Fourteenth Doctor. He will succeed current series lead Jodie Whittaker, who portrays the Thirteenth Doctor. "The future is here! Ncuti Gatwa is the Doctor," the network wrote.
A beloved British sci-fi series, Doctor Who originally aired on BBC from 1963 to 1989. During this original era, a total of eight (well, technically nine) actors portrayed the Doctor, a Time Lord with the ability to cheat death by regenerating, thus changing their appearance.
William Hartnell portrayed the First Doctor, Patrick Troughton played the second, Jon Pertwee played the third, Tom Baker played the fourth, Peter Davison played the fifth, Colin Baker played the sixth, Sylvester McCoy played the seventh and Paul McGann played the eighth. In the 1983 special The Five Doctors, Richard Hurndall replaced the late Hartnell as the First Doctor.
BBC revived Doctor Who in 2005, with a slew of new actors subsequently taking on the lead role. Christopher Eccleston kicked things off as the Ninth Doctor. Eccleston was succeeded by David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor and, now, Gatwa as the Fourteenth Doctor.
The revival era of Doctor Who has also introduced other versions of the show's lead character, such as the War Doctor, played by John Hurt, and the Fugitive Doctor, played by Jo Martin. The War Doctor was canonically active between McGann's Eighth Doctor and Eccleston's Ninth Doctor. Meanwhile, the Fugitive Doctor's placement in the list of regenerations is currently unknown.
Source: Twitter