Doctor Who is a show with a lot of opinions from fans—all because we love it very deeply and we want the show to be the best it can be. After being around for nearly 60 years, the series has fans who have been dedicated from the start. I myself am a New Who super fan. I love the generation of the show that began after 1989—2005 hiatus. For 16 years, there was no Doctor Who. I didn’t “grow up” with the show; I was 14 by the time it came back and wasn’t born yet when it stopped. So, New Who was where I found my love for the Doctor and his adventures through time and space.
You know who also feels the way I do about Doctor Who? Ryan Gosling. Ken himself is seemingly a huge fan of the show—the “biggest fan” according to the new Doctor! Ncuti Gatwa is in the upcoming Barbie movie with Gosling, and when Gatwa was cast as the new time traveling Time Lord, Gosling confessed his love for the show to him.
“I remember Ryan Gosling bounding up to my trailer like, ‘Doctor Who is the coolest show in the world man! I’m the biggest fan,’” Gatwa told Vogue for a cover piece they did on the star, “and I was like, ‘What the hell?’ This show has incredible reach.” It’s really sweet to see how excited Gosling is for Gatwa not only as his coworker but as a fan of the show.
Gatwa is known for playing Eric in Sex Education on Netflix and has since skyrocketed to stardom (and rightfully so). But tackling the Doctor is a different beast.
I can’t wait to see what Ncuti Gatwa does!
What I love about Doctor Who is that the series often catapults someone into stardom in a way that is completely new and different from what they may already know. Both Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant had longstanding careers in the U.K. before taking on the Doctor, but bringing the show to the United States meant a whole new audience was there to adore their work. Matt Smith had shows like Party Animals under his belt but nothing on the scale of Doctor Who, which would make him into the star he is today.
Both Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker were already known for their incredible work, and Doctor Who just, again, broadened that reach. With Gatwa, he has been relatively famous since Eric became a fan-favorite character. Now, with Barbie, people are going to see just how talented he is before he takes on the Doctor’s new look.
I’m genuinely so excited to see what he brings to the character because that’s the fun of Doctor Who. When someone takes over, the show shifts to fit them, and it’s an exciting time to be a fan of the series. It’s also nice to know that if I ever had the chance to talk with Ryan Gosling, I’d talk a lot about who his favorite Doctors/Companions are and why. I hope he also loves Amy Pond.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
