Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: doctor who

Doctor Who: Ncuti Gatwa "Had to Wrestle" with Decision to Leave

Ncuti Gatwa shared additional insights into why he made the decision to depart Showrunner Russell T. Davies's Doctor Who after two seasons.

While we await word on what the future holds for the BBC and Showrunner Russell T. Davies' Doctor Who, we've been hearing from a whole lot of folks about "The Reality War." Specifically, Ncuti Gatwa is ending his run as the Fifteenth Doctor after two seasons, and Billie Piper is possibly taking over as the Sixteenth Doctor. Though he's previously addressed his decision to depart the long-running series, Gatwa had some additional insights to share during an interview with The Telegraph. "There was never an opportunity to recoup the energy – it's just go, go, go," Gatwa revealed, sharing the production schedule and its impact on him personally was a factor.

Gatwa continued, "I was doing seven-day weeks for eight months, and I found it hard being away from home and family. I'd already been shooting in Cardiff for five years (on and off) prior to that with 'Sex Education,' and we started shooting 'Doctor Who' while I was still doing Season four of 'Sex Ed.'" Still, it wasn't an easy decision for him to make, with Gatwa adding, "I had to wrestle with myself – I fell in love with that show. I'll miss it, but I was ready to move on."

"Iconic. Iconic. That was a gift of a job," Gatwa shared during a visit to Lorraine from earlier this summer about his run on the show. "It will live with me forever, and, yeah, spent two amazing years there. It was one of the best jobs that I'll ever do and have ever done. Yeah, excited to move on to other projects. But yeah, the TARDIS will live with me forever. Amazing to work with Russell [T. Davies], with Disney, with BBC, and just to be at the console every day." Gatwa agreed with the host that it was "a moment in time" and that "you can't do it forever," with the two joking that David Tennant was the exception. From there, the two discuss "The Devil's Chord" earning the show its first-ever Primetime Emmy nomination (Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming for the "There's Always a Twist" dance number).

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