That first year as the 15th doctor on “Doctor Who” was, in a word, incredible.
“It was an absolute roller coaster that was going 7,000 miles per hour and when you reached the end you go, ‘My god, how incredible,'” says Ncuti Gatwa, the show’s star.
Now in his second season, he gets to share the ride with a new companion, played by Varada Sethu. “Buckle up,” he told her but Sethu already had explored other worlds in “Andor,” a “Star Wars” spinoff.
There, she played Cinta Kaz, a rebel, who’s hardly the “warm, selfless” woman “Who’s” Belinda Chandra is. While both series require a lot of imagination, “Who” “was different tonally,” she says.
Robots, for example, weren’t added through a green-screen process. Instead, they were walking through the world like Sethu.
“I found them really, really cute,” she says. “I know they were meant to be scary, and, at times, they were because of their size. But I know the actors who are inside, which obviously makes it a lot cuter. The whole thing feels like you’re a kid. As an adult, you don’t often get to interact with something that’s so over-sized. So when this giant robot comes through the kitchen and it looks like a toy, you kind of go back to your inner child. It’s just so exciting to be a part of.”
Ditto Doctor Who’s wardrobe changes.
Because the series dips into different centuries around a multitude of planets, Gatwa was able to test-drive a new wardrobe. “Traditionally on ‘Doctor Who,’ there has always been one uniform that the Doctor wears,” he says. “And that’s become an iconic staple. But now, if you have access to all of time and space, you pick up a couple of pieces here and there – a little outfit from Neptune…a little something from the different galaxies.
“It’s a cool narrative plot point that the TARDIS (Doctor Who’s time machine) sort of instantly understands where they’ve landed and will dress them for the occasion, including their hair and makeup. So, it’s cool to have a big wardrobe.”
This season, the Doctor and Belinda hit a variety of times and places and, yes, do make an impression.
“You do have very weird dreams after shooting the episodes,” Sethu says.
“The things that people find weird become very normal in my dreams. So the aliens, the robots, all of those become very normal. But when someone from your normal life comes into your dreams, that feels bizarre.”
During the hiatus, Gatwa got to perform on The Academy Awards (he was one of the Kens) and act in the National Theatre’s production of “The Importance of Being Earnest.”
“That’s something I certainly would hope to do for the rest of my career – work in different mediums,” Gatwa says. “Before I came to the screen, I thought of myself as a ‘theater’ boy.”
Now, however, it’s like “Doctor Who’s” trajectory: Anything is possible.
“Doctor Who” begins April 12 on Disney+.
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