When Ncuti Gatwa was a toddler, his family fled Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. Three decades later, he was stepping out of the TARDIS as the Doctor.
Gatwa was born in Kigali in 1992. His family escaped the violence and eventually settled in Scotland, where he grew up in Edinburgh and Dunfermline. He has spoken about feeling like an outsider as a Black child in Scotland and about the effect of the genocide on his family.
Training
He trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, graduating in 2013, and worked in theatre, including productions in Scotland and London. For a time he struggled to find work and has described being close to homelessness.
Sex Education
His breakthrough came in 2019 with Netflix’s Sex Education, a comedy-drama set in an English secondary school. Gatwa played Eric Effiong, the flamboyant, warm and funny best friend of the lead character, Otis. Eric’s Nigerian-Ghanaian family, his church and his coming out as gay were central to his story.
The role won him a BAFTA Scotland award and several BAFTA television nominations. Fans loved Eric’s bold outfits and his loyalty.
The Doctor
In May 2022, the BBC announced that Gatwa would play the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who, making him the first Black actor to be cast as the Doctor in the lead role of the long-running series. He made his first full appearance in the 2023 Christmas special and led his first series in 2024.
His casting was celebrated as a milestone for one of Britain’s most famous television programmes, first broadcast in 1963.
Barbie
In 2023, he appeared as one of the Kens in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, one of the biggest films of the year.
Style
Gatwa has become a fashion figure, wearing bold outfits on red carpets, including kilts and outfits that mix Scottish and African influences. He has spoken about using fashion to express identity.
Rwanda
His father, Tharcisse Gatwa, is a theologian and journalist. Gatwa has spoken about returning to Rwanda and about the importance of remembering the genocide, in which more than 800,000 people were killed.
Legacy
For many young Black Britons, and for refugees, Gatwa’s journey from Kigali to the TARDIS is proof that the lead role can belong to them.
The Doctor is a traveller who escapes one danger after another and always finds a way home. Gatwa had already made that journey once.
