Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: doctor who

Doctor Who Star Ncuti Gatwa on Why "It Was Time" to Leave, Eurovision

Ncuti Gatwa discusses why "it was time" for him to depart Doctor Who and those rumors surrounding his stepping away from Eurovision 2025.

Last week, Ncuti Gatwa made it clear that he was "finished" with his run as the Fifteenth Doctor on BBC and Showrunner Russell T. Davies' Doctor Who, and that he didn't have much to offer regarding whether Billie Piper will be the Sixteenth Doctor or someone else. Checking in with BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Gatwa opened up more about his way-too-short run on the long-running series and why the time was right for him to depart.

"Because I'm getting old and my body was tired. I've now just started doing some ballet, so I'm making some good decisions here," Gatwa revealed when asked by host Laura Kuenssberg why he pulled the trigger on departing the show. "It's the most amazing job in the world. It's a job that any actor would dream of. And because it's so good, it's strenuous, it takes a lot out of you physically, emotionally, mentally," he added. "So, I… it was time." That said, Gatwa kept the door open for a possible guest appearance or something of that nature, dropping a "never say never" when pressed about the possibility of a return.

Gatwa also addressed the rumors that he dropped out of representing the UK during this year's Eurovision over Israel competing in the global singing competition, making it clear that it had nothing to do with his stepping away. In the clip below, Gatwa explains that he was "very busy" and couldn't make the event work in his schedule, adding that he "pulled out of it a long time before it was announced" and that he didn't know why they waited so long before dropping the news:

Doctor Who: Clarifying That Russell T Davies/Billie Piper Clickbait

During an interview with Your Manchester, host Brenda Scandal asks RTD about Piper's appearance at the end of the Season 2 finale and what that could mean moving forward. Specifically, does that mean that Piper is the next Doctor? "No, I have no idea," was RTD's response. Aha! The smoking gun! But if you actually watch the entire segment (beginning at around the 30:09 mark in the video above), you can clearly see that RTD is having some fun while being guarded and a bit cheeky. Objectively, there is no way to take the response at face value, especially when you watch and listen to how the exchange continues. Scandal continues on the topic, going in some interesting directions with the questions to get RTD to commit to something, with RTD even joking at one point that, "That's clever. That's sharp. That's a nice little parry and faint. You should work in PR" before moving on.

Again, take what looks to be literally a minute to check out that section in the video above to see for yourselves. There's no mistaking that the fans have some serious passion for this long-running franchise and have thousands upon thousands of differing opinions on what would "save" the show moving forward. What doesn't help the conversation, though, is feeding into the misinformation cesspool that's out there on social media. No one is saying that RTD hasn't given fans a ton of reasons to both praise and criticize his work, but he deserves better than to have his words spun in a way that lacks credibility and does a disservice to everyone.

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