DOCTOR WHO LIVE: DIVA DOCTOR? NCUTI GATWA'S VANITY FAIR INTERVIEW DECODED

[@iluv2b]

I used to worry that there was too much sanity, decency, and plain old common sense in the world...until Ncuti Gatwa came along, to reassure me that there wasn't. A very thorough assessment, Brendan and Divining Dragon!

[@noblerees1]

Thank you my friend

[@iluv2b]

@@noblerees1 You're more than welcome; thanks for all that you do.

[@boomerdoug4242]

@@iluv2bI totally agree wise words as usual 👍

[@iluv2b]

@@boomerdoug4242 Cheers, Doug.

[@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns]

RTD/Gatwa have devalued the role of the Doctor. Once it was a role that attracted the likes of Christopher Eccleston and Peter Capaldi. After recent years I doubt actors of that quality will look on the role as a top job to boost their careers. Especially, when the ratings have hit an all time low.

[@matthewche]

Ncuti, the Doctor, comes off as an game show host

[@crimpleendoubloon]

Great show. Many thanks, Brendan and Divining Dragon. A brilliant dissection and decoding. It makes me wonder what I might be revealing about myself in my comments! Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch, but I feel that Matt Smith had a better, broader grounding in acting from the films he watched growing up. He's spoken of being a Peter Sellers fan, and I remember in a DWM interview he recommended the George C Scott film of A Christmas Carol. I don't recall Ncuti Gatwa making any references to his movie tastes. He seems to live very much in the here and now. And what does that reveal about myself? That I feel that I have received some sort of an education through my tastes in older films and television, and that Ncuti would benefit from a similar course of self-education, in order to portray a wider range of characters. Being a Doctor Who fan has certainly given me an education, and I'm still learning things from it now, but now it's through shows such as this one, analyzing the stories going on beyond the fiction that we see on the TV screen. Tonight I watched the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera. I didn't learn anything, but enjoyed it hugely!

[@noblerees1]

There just appears no cultural or literary hinterland to his comments

[@boomerdoug4242]

If nothing else CD you have superb taste in movies 👍

[@anthonygreen7063]

Agree @crimpleendoubleoon. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 62 and grew up watching the likes of Bette Davis, Jimmy Cagney, Olivier in Wuthering Heights (which I watched the first time I was left 'home alone' for an evening, aged maybe ten). These old classics were on mainstream TV in the seventies, as was even subtitled foreign films. It gave me a wider taste than is the case with most youngerr actors now. Smith also studiously watched all previous Doctors, of course, and they clearly influenced his performance (a great Doctor, though I have issues with some of Moffatt's convoluted story arcs). NCuti was apparently 'not allowed' to view his predercessors in the role.

[@davidroberts5250]

That's why Matt is my favourite nu-who Doctor. He may have looked young but, he had a old fashioned way about him which was perfect for the role. That's why I think Ncuti was miscast in the role he's just too camp with his 'honey' and 'babes' he's like a drag queen who doesn't dress in drag. He doesn't play it like an old man in a young man's body, like Matt did.

[@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns]

I have seen enough of Ncuti to judge him on his acting abilities. He’s not good. On the same level as John Bishop. He can play a variation of himself and that’s it.

[@michaelstewart3532]

Another great episode. Sense Sphere has been on a roll this week. I think Troughton is probably the best actor to play the role and you can draw a straight line from his interpretation to Matt Smith who was also brilliant. Ncuti just isn't in the same league. Bit of a deep dive this one that makes you think. Very good.

[@noblerees1]

Thank you for those comments. I do like a saloon analysis. Space to breathe and deep dive

[@badwolf69420]

I heard someone say he's the first child actor to play Dr. Who

[@ajivins1]

Pertwee might not have started as a pure actor but that speech he gave to Reggie Perrin's son in law near the end of Planet of the Daleks stuck with me as a kid and still works now. As for Gatwa, remember when humility was 'a thing'?

[@gregcampbell4]

The only role I have seen him in where he wasn't just playing Ncuti Gatwa was as one of the Tuskegee pilots in Masters of the Air. Fair enough, the role wasn't huge, but the performance was passable at best, he hardly stood out.

[@davidmullen6011]

He is young, and lacks experience. I do not disagree with a lot of the observations made against him, but by the same turn I do feel that because of his youth, and his lack of experience in acting, he badly needs strong management to help him along, and give him a stronger character to inhabit. Ncuti Gatwa isn't the first time an entertainer or lightweight has been offered the role of the Doctor, apart from Jon Pertwee we had the example of Sylvester McCoy, a man not known for his acting pedigree back in 1987... for all the criticism of Gatwa I have seen it all before - with McCoy, in 1987. History showed that once he had his first chaootic and lightweight season out of the way, Sylvester McCoy was able to laise with new Script editor Cartmel, and they came together to essentially revamp McCoy's approach to the part, and tailor scripts to suit a more restrained and less energetic Doctor. It worked extremely well. Ncuti Gatwa is more a model than actor I agree. He is trying to branch out into acting roles and yet lacks theatre training, and is getting by on selling his own personality. But this is not different to what Pertwee or McCoy did to a large extent. The difference, for me at least, is that Gatwa has not been handled well by Russell Davies, and what is needed is a Steven Moffatt type as Producer. Someone who can give Gatwa a more solid grounding, and deliver a much more disciplined series. If the work environment is not a professional one, with discipline and a sense of comerarderie laced with ambition, then you will get a series like the one just gone...

[@michaelwebster8666]

Mr Ghatwa is - in my opinion no more than an animated mannequin, perfect casting for Barbie, completely miscast as The Doctor. I cannot envisage him in a gritty drama or a thriller. The most talentless actor to ever hold the keys to the Tardis. Thank you Brendan & Divining Dragon 👍

[@noblerees1]

Thank you for supporting us

[@tortysoft]

I missed it all ! May be I would not have been very contrarian...

[@gladiator652004]

Ncuti can't do the eccentric and other-worldly, no gravitas, no screen presence. He comes across as a common-or-garden gay black human. He's simply not right for the part.

[@Dirty_Hamble]

Exactly. Well said. 👍

[@Changeling_cosplay]

I do agree with the imposter syndrome thing. He is overcompensating a lot and that it pretty typical. It comes over as very insecure.

[@RicStorm616]

Ncuti McGatwa is not a real actor at all, what is his acting range apart from playing himself and a rotting radish

[@Dirty_Hamble]

Ncuti does play embarrassing relative very well dressed like that.

[@Changeling_cosplay]

I do have to disagree about the representation thing because some groups of people have been portrayed so negatively in the media that is shaped public perception of them. That is very dangerous.

[@gregsmith7949]

Gatwa is more interested in being a celebrity than being a good actor. Unfortunately, that seems to be most of the under 40 crowd in the entertainment industry these days.

[@Changeling_cosplay]

I hate having to say someone is miscast, but I think this is really the case this time. Gatwa could have been a fun companion, but he’s not really working as the Doctor.

[@gladiator652004]

I wish Jo Martin would take over. Ncuti's crap.

[@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns]

Martin was awful. She was playing the stereotypical Bad Ass Mama who takes no …. from no one! Kung Fued 4 Judoon’s and has a Big Bazooka weapon. Problembeing calls her the Council Estate Doctor and I can see why. She’s perfect for Eastenders but never Doctor Who.

[@gladiator652004]

@@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns I think she has great screen presence, and I don't mind if she is less patrician. But you do you.

[@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns]

@@gladiator652004 I always do! Everything is subjective but there is a reason why Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, David Tennant and Matt Smith are at the top of the best Doctor ever lists. They were the best and understood the character they were playing. Jo Martin raved about how great it was that her Doctor figure had a gun. That tells me that she knew very little of the character she was playing. Never watched an episode apart from the one she was in. And yes, it’s just my opinion.

[@gladiator652004]

@@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns Tell that to the Ice Warriors and the Ogrons. Pew pew!

[@Dirty_Hamble]

I hated the Chinballs era but love Jo Martin's Doctor.