Ncuti Gatwa, who played the Fifteenth Doctor in two seasons of Doctor Who, has said he left Doctor Who was his body “was tired”. This prompted the internet to guffaw in disbelief.
While on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the titular presenter asked why Gatwa left the show, to which Gatwa said:
“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. 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.
“So… it was time.”
He was born in 1992.
It does rather feel like Gatwa has been gagged somewhat — something is definitely amiss, some things aren’t being said, so of course Ncuti is going to have to stick to the party line. Many on social media, however, have pointed out that Gatwa has been told not to reveal more about what’s gone on behind the scenes in a similar fashion as Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, was back when he left in 2005.
Nonetheless, he handled this well. He complimented the show and the job, and didn’t use the opportunity to have a dig at anyone or to talk about any regrets or let-downs. Still, he’ll be asked this question forever, so some of the truth will likely come out in time. There’s some speculation that waiting for Disney to decide whether to recommission Doctor Who went on for so long that Gatwa was turning down so much work that he was losing a great deal of money and it was damaging his career. If true, you can absolutely see why he felt he had to leave. But that’s just rumour right now.
His above comments also fly in the face of his telling Doctor Who Unleashed that the plan was always for him to do two seasons of the programme.
Poor Ncuti. He’s in for a tough time of it.