Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Netflix, Preview, TV | Tagged: bbc, doctor who, Ncuti Gatwa, netflix, Sex Education

Doctor Who Star Ncuti Gatwa Seemingly Confirms Sex Education Exit

Based on a recent Instagram post, it appears that Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is wrapping up his run on Netflix's Sex Education.

When it was first announced that Ncuti Gatwa would be coming aboard the BBC & Disney+'s Doctor Who, fans of Netflix's Laurie Nunn-created British comedy-drama Sex Education were excited to see Gatwa being given the chance to show the world what they've seen over the course of the past three seasons. But it also left them wondering what the news meant for his run as Eric Effiong on the streaming series. The rumblings became louder once fans learned that Gatwa had started production on the new series of the long-running sci-fi series from showrunner Russell T. Davies and with Millie Gibson's companion, Ruby Sunday. It's understandable, considering production has also been underway on the fourth season of Sex Education, expected to hit screens later this year. So will the fourth season be the final one for Gatwa's Eric? It would appear so based on a recent Instagram post.

"Last day. Last time. Bye bubs, thank you for all the lessons and for all the strength," Gatwa wrote as the caption to an Instagram post displaying the outside of his trailer, with the sign "4. Eric" on the door – here's a look:

How They Found "Brilliant" Ncuti Gatwa to Lead "Doctor Who"

In Doctor Who Magazine #586 (which you can order here), Davies confirmed that Casting Director Andy Pryor was charged with bringing the creative team "the best in the land," with Davies and producer Phil Collinson confirming that they auditioned "all backgrounds, all genders," including one non-binary actor. The duo also confirmed that another actor was seriously being considered for The Doctor heading into the final audition… and then (as Collinson puts it), "in walked Ncuti [Gatwa] and absolutely stole the part. He took control of it and did things with it that I'd never seen an actor playing 'Doctor Who' do. It was just extraordinary." In fact, Tranter described Gatwa's audition as "the most extraordinary" one that she's ever seen ("He was the Doctor").

Davies On What They Were Looking For & "Brilliant" Ncuti Gatwa: "I think, as a rule, we were looking for younger – most of the people we saw were under 30 – but not as a definite rule, and kind of new talent. Ncuti's not exactly new. He's world-famous already with 'Sex Education.' But we weren't looking for an older, established face. And in he walked. The last person to audition. It sounds like one of those stories you tell as an anecdote, but Ncuti was absolutely the last person in, and everything clicked into place. I sat there thinking, 'Why didn't we just offer [Ncuti the role]? Why did we need to audition the man from 'Sex Education'? Of course, he's brilliant."

Welcoming "Brilliantly Confident" Millie Gibson to the TARDIS

Referring back to Gibson's September 2022 audition, executive producers Jane Tranter found Gibson to be "brilliantly confident and centered and just a shining star," who "held her own, in her own way, as Ruby would with [Gatwa's] Doctor"  and that things" just clicked between them." Collinson shared how Gatwa "came down to London on his day off and did a day of auditioning with us," with Davies reminding "Who-storians" that Christopher Eccleston did that very same thing when it came time to audition an actress to play Rose Tyler. And as impressed as they were with what Gibson was bringing to the role, they were soon far from alone. We showed those auditions tapes to the BBC and to Disney, and everyone instantly went, 'Millie, Millie, Millie.'"

Davies Had His Eye on Millie Gibson Since Her "Coronation Street" Days: I'd had my eye on Millie for a while because I'm still watching 'Coronation Street' [Gibson played Kelly Neelan from 2019 to 2022] and, I tell you, the writers obviously loved her. Over four years, I noticed her getting more and more to do. That reached the most extraordinary synthesis of plots where she was on a drug heist, and her father had been kidnapped, and she was being accused of murder, at the same time as she was winning North-West Regional Hairdresser of the Year!"

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