Discover how Ncuti Gatwa is ushering Doctor Who into a fresh era.

When Ncuti Gatwa received the call that would alter his trajectory, he happened to be stepping into a London barbershop. The news from his agent struck him like lightning: he had landed the lead role in the revered British sci-fi series Doctor Who. It wasn't merely another acting gig; it was an opportunity destined to etch his name into the annals of British cultural lore.

Stunned, he promised his agent a callback and promptly hung up, shelving the revelation for a week. "I had chores, the gym, life to deal with-I couldn't wrap my head around this seismic shift," he reminisces when we rendezvous two years later on a brisk spring day in East London.

Doctor Who, a fixture on British screens since 1963, holds a special place in the nation's heart. Renowned thespians have inhabited the role of the Doctor, a time-traveling extraterrestrial voyager aboard the iconic TARDIS, a vessel disguised as a British blue police box. Armed with wit and resolve, the Doctor combats malevolent forces and rights cosmic wrongs, able to regenerate into a new form when faced with fatal peril.

While Gatwa, now 31, felt compelled to embrace this iconic mantle, the weight of expectation was daunting. "I was a bundle of nerves," he admits. "Seeing the TARDIS on my first day on set hit me hard. This was the epitome of British television. Failure was not an option."

Failure isn't a notion typically linked with Gatwa. Our paths initially crossed nearly five years ago on the set of Netflix's Sex Education, where his portrayal of Eric Effiong, a vibrant teenager navigating the intersections of sexuality and faith, garnered widespread acclaim. Gatwa attributes his growth to the role, citing it as a catalyst for personal courage. "It taught me to be bolder-just to embrace my authentic self, flaws and all," he reflects.