Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, and Russell T Davies Talk Filming In Wales and Escapism With New Doctor Who Series
In the highly anticipated Doctor Who series, we follow the Fifteenth Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday as they travel across time and space, with adventures from the Regency era in England to war-torn future worlds. Throughout their adventures in the iconic TARDIS, they encounter incredible friends and dangerous foes, including a terrifying bogeyman and The Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet. Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, and showrunner Russell T Davies met for a press conference to discuss what viewers can expect in this upcoming series.
Doctor Who has generated a vast fanbase throughout the years as Gatwa comes as the Fifteenth Doctor, but Davies explains the exciting parts of bringing a new story for new viewers. “There are whole generations from whom Ncuti and Millie will be their doctor and their companion and that’s so exciting. So, there’s always a couple of call backs. I think one of the most exciting things we’ve done is reinvent Unit — the military organization that helps The Doctor whenever he's on earth,” he said. “They used to live in secret, used to hide in country houses, and do their things behind the scenes. Now, they’re going to be in a tower in the middle of the city. They are open and proud and openly saying we’re defending the earth against the threats of space so that's been fun.”
With a larger budget than previous Doctor Who iterations, the cast recalls their experience filming in Wales and the importance of the location. “I love Wales a lot. I had been working there for the past four years so I'm very familiar with how beautiful it is,” Gatwa said about filming in Cardiff. “It feels like the perfect landscape to film a sci-fi show because you've got quarries and mountains. The nature is just breathtaking.”
“I’d be tarred and feathered if I tried to take it out of Cardiff, but actually the thing is, it's been made in Cardiff since 2004,” said Davies about the importance of the location. “There are families, there are people who’ve had children, met on set, and live in Cardiff. It’s woven into the cities, so it wouldn't be a [good] business decision to move it to another place. It's woven into Cardiff itself. It's a beautiful place to work.”
As the youngest Ruby Sunday, Gibson fondly gushes about the previous companions and her portrayal of the character. “Oh my gosh, I’m obsessed with every companion. I remember as soon as I got the role, I thought, ‘Gosh I’ve got some really big boots to fill and I hope I [live] up to that reputation,’” she said. “All the way back to Russell’s first reboot with Billie Piper. I mean, Amy Pond, as we all know, is my favorite. I absolutely adore them all and I just wanted Ruby to be quite different in a way — in her youth, in her innocence, in her curiosity. There’s never been a companion that’s my age before so that was definitely an element of surprise I wanted to weave into Ruby Sunday to make her a little bit different.”
Playing such beloved characters comes with its own set of surprises. For Gatwa, he mentions that there’s a “sense of innocence” within The Doctor that made him insecure at first at balancing the portrayal of wisdom and simple joy. Meanwhile, Gibson was surprised at the amount of comedy she got to do with her character. “On Corrie, I was depressed every episode so it was really good to actually get my teeth into some proper comedy,” she said. “There's so many points where I read a line and was like ‘Can I make that funny or is that pushing it too far?’ so that was really cool to play with.”
One of the most eclectic aspects of the series has to do with the fashion between the eras. Gibson gives major credit to their incredible costume designer Pam Downe and makeup designer Claire Williams. “I remember Claire showed me a picture of my beehive and she was like, ‘What’d you think of this?’ I would have never thought in a million years to do a beehive. Recently, I've actually found a picture of my nana in the ‘60s and she looks the spitting image of me in the ‘60s so Claire just knew,” she said. “Pam really wanted Ruby to have a specific pattern so we went with checkered. We see Ruby in a lot of checkered mini skirts, colorful patterns, very ruby red sort of colors, and I remember in the regency episode that Pam loved the idea of blondes in yellow and she wanted to get that across on screen.”
What remains at the helm of the series is that The Doctor is a highly empathetic character that everyone can resonate with, even the LGBTQ community, as Ncuti notes. “I think many marginalized groups found solace in the show. Many people that feel lonely find a friend in The Doctor. They watch a show that allows them to escape to the stars for an hour and forget all earthly troubles and earthly things that we judge each other for,” he stated. “So for people that maybe sit outside the mainstream or don't feel represented enough in life, The Doctor is a pal. I think it makes people feel safe. Like they’ve got a friend, someone to relate to, because The Doctor is kind of lonely himself.”
In the midst of thrillers and horror films, Davies emphasizes bringing a sense of joy to viewers that feels necessary with the series. “I think they need joyous shows. There’s a lot of dark thrillers with terrible things set in dystopian futures which I love. But Doctor Who can be a contrast, it can be full of hope,” he said. “It is really a show about survival. You’ve got to remember he's not a soldier, he's not a fighter, he's completely free and powerful within his own sense of self so I think it's a very good tone for the show to have.”
Doctor Who returns May 10 on Disney+.
