Doctor Who's Ncuti Gatwa 'had to hire security after casting'

Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa, set to take up the prestigious title of the Doctor after Jodie Whittaker leaves, had to hire extra security after the announcement, according to his Barbie co-star.

Gatwa is to appear on screens soon as part of the highly-anticipated Barbie film starring Margot Robbie, fellow Sex Education star Emma Mackey and Simu Liu (Shang-Chi).

During his recent book tour for his memoir We Were Dreamers in London, Liu opened up about finding out the Doctor Who casting news while filming with Gatwa, saying (via Variety): "[He] didn't tell anyone a thing."

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doctor who star ncuti gatwa and showrunner russell t davies hug and smile at the baftas

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"And then all of a sudden over the weekend he was announced," Liu continued. "We came to work on Monday we were like 'Dude, how long have you been holding this in for?' And he's like, 'Two months.'"

According to Liu: "He had to get security in and around not only his place of residence, but the places of residence of his entire family."

The response to Gatwa's casting was huge on social media with fans and stars alike sharing their thoughts on the news. As well as this, multiple previous Doctors have already shown their support, including Peter Capaldi and Matt Smith who played the eleventh and twelfth Doctors respectively.

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Talking about the lead up to the reveal, Doctor Who boss Russell T Davies told Doctor Who Magazine: "The fact that we had to do all this in secret meant we were rattling with tension. Not only had Ncuti's name not been leaked, but he hadn't even been guessed.

"His casting had been locked away, since February, with all of us worrying that it would be spoiled, any day now. But it worked. It absolutely worked."

Doctor Who's next special premieres in Autumn 2022 on BBC One in the UK. In the US, the show airs on BBC America, with series 1-12 available on HBO Max.

Doctor Who: Time Fracture closes on June 5. Tickets are also available via retailers including LOVEtheatre, London Theatre Direct, Fever and Ticketmaster.

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Asyia Iftikhar

Asyia is an entertainment reporter covering TV, film, theatre, music, books and general showbiz.

She was previously a freelance reporter who has written for publications including Glamour, gal-dem, Metro and Bustle.

She has a gold-standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates. Asyia has covered industry events such as the London Film Festival and BFI Flare and has a specialist interest in analysing LGBTQ+ issues, race and identity within the cultural landscape.
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