Doctor Who
admonition : spoilers beforehand for Doctor Who ’s 2023 Christmas special .
Summary
Ncuti Gatwa make hisDoctor Whodebut right in " The Church on Ruby Road , " but the 2023 Christmas special ditch a time - observe show tradition stretching back to the 1960s . Ncuti Gatwa made his first appearance as the Fifteenth Doctor in 60th day of remembrance episode " The Giggle , " but was forced to share the spotlight withDavid Tennant afterDoctor Who ’s factious bi - contemporaries twist . Gatwa ’s first true opportunity to establish his version of the Doctor comes in 2023 ’s Christmas adventure , which puts Fifteen in the route of Millie Gibson ’s Ruby Sunday , setting upDoctor Whoseason 14and the future of the show .
Thanks to his improper regeneration , Ncuti Gatwa is already a very different embodiment of the Doctor , absolutely unlike any that came before . Fifteen ’s singularity is also mull by his not - very - screwdriver - like sonic screwdriver , his preference for clubbing , and his unbendable grasp on way compare topastDoctor Whoregenerations . " The Church on Ruby Road " double down on setting Ncuti Gatwa starkly aside from late Doctors by dropping a long - stand up tradition that has seldom been broken before .
Like the Timeless Child before it , bi - generation will divide Doctor Who ’s fandom , but RTD ’s twist causes the precise opposite problem Chibnall ’s did .
Ncuti Gatwa Doesn’t Get A Doctor Who Costume Scene
Despite arguably being the most fashionable proprietor the TARDIS has ever had , Ncuti Gatwa ’s Fifteenth Doctor does not get a costume modification sequenceinDoctor Who ’s 2023 Christmas episode . The tradition startle with Patrick Troughton in 1966 ’s " The Power of the Daleks , " which open with the Second Doctor losing his herald ’s cloak and ring , then blame out a new coat and his trademark recorder from a chest in the TARDIS . This concept was later on taken further for Jon Pertwee ’s Third Doctor , who swiped his outfit from a infirmary , and the pattern carry on with Tom Baker , Peter Davison , Colin Baker , Sylvester McCoy , and Paul McGann .
In the modern era , David Tennant , Matt Smith , Peter Capaldi , and Jodie Whittaker have all received a scene or two designed to introduce and explain their unexampled rig - even if Capaldi ’s was just need Clara what she remember of his newfangled look . Ncuti Gatwa joins William Hartnell and Christopher Eccleston as the only Doctors who appear inDoctor Whohaving already settle down into their Modern costume . The Fifteenth Doctor set out in " The Giggle " wearing David Tennant ’s underwear , then arrives in " The Church on Ruby Road " rocking his tan coat and moustache .
Doctor Who Skips Over The Fifteenth Doctor’s Early Days
Beyond just ignoring how the new Doctor choose his getup , Doctor Who ’s 2023 Christmas special also skips all over Fifteen ’s early days as the Time Lord ’s late incarnation . mail service - regenerationDoctor Whoepisodes from years cash in one’s chips by showed the fresh - revitalized protagonist struggling from regeneration illness , getting a raw transonic screwdriver , win over companions they ’re still the same individual , and , in Six ’s case , being very rude . " The Church on Ruby Road " avoid all of the above .
Why Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor Returns In The Christmas Special Fully-Formed
Ncuti Gatwa emphatically would have had a huge amount of fun toying around with aDoctor Who"choose a newfangled getup " successiveness , but skip the admin newfangled regenerations typically go through makes arrant sensation . With Russell T Davies returning as showrunner , a distribution great deal with Disney+ , and the Second Coming of Christ of the " Whoniverse,“Doctor Whoseason 14 strongly symbolizes a fresh era for the show following the Fourteenth Doctor ’s bismuth - generation . It seems instinctive , therefore , that Ncuti Gatwa follow William Hartnell and Christopher Eccleston as only the third full - metre Doctor to appear pre - garb in their main rig sans explanation .
As the First Doctor , Hartnell ’s iteration had , of course , been around a while before " An Unearthly Child , " and while 2005 ’s " Rose " suggest that the Ninth Doctor had only late rectify , the spread between John Hurt ’s War Doctor and Eccleston has still not been made expressed in canyon . In both instances , a successiveness showing the Doctor find fault out unexampled clothes was made redundant by the fact these were the first Doctors of their several geological era . By giving Ncuti Gatwa the same treatment , Doctor Whois creating the same kind of novel beginning the show previously had in 1963 and 2005 .
Doctor Whoseason 14 begin in spring 2024 .
Cast
